In the scientific experimentation process, an experiment result needs to be analyzed and compared with several others, potentially obtained in different conditions. Thus, the experimenter needs to be able to redo the experiment. Several tools are dedicated to the control of the experiment input parameters and the experiment replay. In parallel concurrent and distributed systems, experiment conditions are not only restricted to the input parameters, but also to the software environment in which the experiment was carried out. It is therefore essential to be able to reconstruct this type of environment. The task can quickly become complex for experimenters, particularly on research platforms dedicated to scientific experimentation, where both hardware and software are in constant rapid evolution. This article discusses the concept of the reconstructability of software environments and proposes a tool for dealing with this problem.
Abstract. Experiment reproducibility is a milestone of the scientific method. Reproducibility of experiments in computer science would bring several advantages such as code re-usability and technology transfer. The reproducibility problem in computer science has been solved partially, addressing particular class of applications or single machine setups. In this paper we present our approach oriented to setup complex environments for experimentation, environments that require a lot of configuration and the installation of several software packages. The main objective of our approach is to enable the exact and independent reconstruction of a given software environment and the reuse of code. We present a simple and small software appliance generator that helps an experimenter to construct a specific software stack that can be deployed on different available testbeds.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.