It focuses on quantum circuit construction and simulation. Cirq allows you to define and manipulate quantum circuits at a low level, making it suitable for researchers and developers who want fine-grained control over their quantum algorithms. It is implemented in Python.
ProjectQ: ProjectQ is an open-source software framework for quantum computing developed by ETH Zurich. It offers a high-level abstraction for quantum programming and supports quantum circuit simulation on classical computers. ProjectQ aims to facilitate the development and testing of quantum algorithms by providing a user-friendly interface and support for multiple backends.
Forest: Forest is an open-source software development kit (SDK) provided by Rigetti Computing. It includes pyQuil, a Python library for quantum programming, which enables the design and simulation of quantum circuits using Rigetti's quantum processors. Forest also provides access to Rigetti's Quantum Virtual Machine (QVM) for circuit simulation and the Agave quantum cloud service for accessing real quantum hardware.
OpenQASM: OpenQASM (Open Quantum Assembly Language) is an open-source intermediate representation for quantum instructions and circuits. It is part of the Qiskit framework and allows users to express quantum algorithms at a low level. OpenQASM is designed to be platform-independent and can be used with different quantum software and hardware implementations.
These software suites provide valuable tools and resources for quantum programming, simulation, and algorithm development. They offer different levels of abstraction and capabilities, so you can choose the one that aligns with your specific requirements and preferences.