Posts from 2025-06
Explaining software and computational methods
How can we document software and computational analyses in such a way that others can convince themselves of their validity, and build on them for their own work? The question has been around for many years, and a number of attempts have been made to provide partial answers. This post provides a brief review and describes my own tentative answer, inviting you to play with it.
Why computational reproducibility matters
Thirty years after my first contact with computational (ir)reproducibility, I am happy to note that many things have improved. Reproducibility, computational and otherwise, is increasingly recognized as an important aspect of scientific quality control, and mostly considered worth striving for. However, I also note that more and more people, including reproducibility activists, have lost contact with the day-to-day reality in which reproducibility matters. Reproducibility is becoming an item on a checklist, and its precise incarnation the subject of political bickering aimed at making it easy to check off that item. So let's take a look at why computational reproducibility matters for researchers.
Tags: computational science, computer-aided research, digital scientific notations, emacs, mmtk, mobile computing, polycrisis, programming, proteins, python, rants, reproducible research, science, scientific computing, scientific software, social networks, software, source code repositories, sustainable software
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