Developing software for a scientific community: some challenges and solutions

Segal, Judith A. and Morris, Chris (2011). Developing software for a scientific community: some challenges and solutions. In: Leng, Joanna and Sharrock, Wes eds. Handbook of Research on Computational Science and Engineering: Theory and Practice, Volume 1. USA: IGI Global, pp. 177–196.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61350-116-0.ch008

Abstract

There are significant challenges in developing scientific software for a broad community. In this chapter, we discuss how these challenges are somewhat different both from those encountered when a scientist end-user developer develops software to address a very specific scientific problem of his/her own, and from those encountered in many commercial developments. However, many developers of scientific community software are steeped in the culture of either scientific end-user or commercial development. As we shall discuss herein, neither background provides sufficient experience so as to meet the challenges of developing software for a scientific community. We make various proposals as to which development approaches, methods, techniques and tools might be useful in this context, and just as importantly, which might not.

Viewing alternatives

Metrics

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats Digital Object Identifier - DOI