arXiv subjects

Gregory R. Watson

Publications and source records attributed to Gregory R. Watson.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Exploring Sustainability in Scientific Software through Code Quality & Test Coverage Metrics

Context: Scientific open-source software (SciOSS) plays a foundational role in research and engineering, yet its long-term sustainability has often been overlooked and remains a significant concern. Objective: This study investigates the long-term sustainability of SciOSS through code and test quality metrics. Method: We analyze CASS Software Portfolio projects, classifying them by sustainability and comparing their code structure, test coverage, and links between code quality and testing across the dataset. Results: Sustainable projects show higher, more consistent test coverage and clearer code-test correlations, while unsustainable ones show weaker patterns. Overall, test coverage is low in scientific software, and high complexity and coupling reduce testability. Conclusion: In this study, we present a practical, data-driven approach for assessing sustainability in scientific software, offering a foundation for evaluating long-term software health and supporting future efforts in quality assurance and sustainability monitoring.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2026

Self-Admitted Technical Debt in Scientific Software: Prioritization, Sentiment, and Propagation Across Artifacts

Self-admitted technical debt (SATD) impairs scientific software (SSW), yet its prioritization, sentiment, persistence, and propagation remains underexplored. Understanding how SSW developers express, and address SATD is crucial for improving SSW maintenance, and tooling. This study investigates how SATD types and artifacts in SSW are prioritized, how sentiment relates to urgency, SATD removal and resolution rates, and the extent to which SATD propagates across artifacts. We analyzed nine SSW repositories using a SATD classification model and a semantic embedding-based prioritization heuristic. SATD was examined across multiple artifacts, with sentiment assessed via a fine-tuned transformer. Propagation was traced, priority scores compared to static analysis, and removal and resolution rates quantified. SATD in comments, commits, and pull requests receive higher priority than SATD in issues, with negative sentiment amplifying urgency. Resolution and removal rates lag behind open-source software (OSS) averages. Most SATD remains confined to the originating artifact, but longer propagation chains are rare and correlate with higher priority, highlighting persistent and high impact debt. Prioritization is influenced by artifact type and sentiment, while low removal and resolution rates signal persistent debt. Cross-artifact propagation marks high priority, unresolved SATD, providing empirical guidance for targeted monitoring, review prioritization, and tool supported maintenance in SSW.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2025

Uncovering Scientific Software Sustainability through Community Engagement and Software Quality Metrics

Scientific open-source software (Sci-OSS) projects are critical for advancing research, yet sustaining these projects long-term remains a major challenge. This paper explores the sustainability of Sci-OSS hosted on GitHub, focusing on two factors drawn from stewardship organizations: community engagement and software quality. We map sustainability to repository metrics from the literature and mined data from ten prominent Sci-OSS projects. A multimodal analysis of these projects led us to a novel visualization technique, providing a robust way to display both current and evolving software metrics over time, replacing multiple traditional visualizations with one. Additionally, our statistical analysis shows that even similar-domain projects sustain themselves differently. Natural language analysis supports claims from the literature, highlighting that project-specific feedback plays a key role in maintaining software quality. Our visualization and analysis methods offer researchers, funders, and developers key insights into long-term software sustainability.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2024

A cast of thousands: How the IDEAS Productivity project has advanced software productivity and sustainability

Computational and data-enabled science and engineering are revolutionizing advances throughout science and society, at all scales of computing. For example, teams in the U.S. DOE Exascale Computing Project have been tackling new frontiers in modeling, simulation, and analysis by exploiting unprecedented exascale computing capabilities-building an advanced software ecosystem that supports next-generation applications and addresses disruptive changes in computer architectures. However, concerns are growing about the productivity of the developers of scientific software, its sustainability, and the trustworthiness of the results that it produces. Members of the IDEAS project serve as catalysts to address these challenges through fostering software communities, incubating and curating methodologies and resources, and disseminating knowledge to advance developer productivity and software sustainability. This paper discusses how these synergistic activities are advancing scientific discovery-mitigating technical risks by building a firmer foundation for reproducible, sustainable science at all scales of computing, from laptops to clusters to exascale and beyond.

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arXiv2023

An Open Community-Driven Model For Sustainable Research Software: Sustainable Research Software Institute

Research software plays a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge, but ensuring its sustainability, maintainability, and long-term viability is an ongoing challenge. To address these concerns, the Sustainable Research Software Institute (SRSI) Model presents a comprehensive framework designed to promote sustainable practices in the research software community. This white paper provides an in-depth overview of the SRSI Model, outlining its objectives, services, funding mechanisms, collaborations, and the significant potential impact it could have on the research software community. It explores the wide range of services offered, diverse funding sources, extensive collaboration opportunities, and the transformative influence of the SRSI Model on the research software landscape

cs.CY↗

arXiv2023

Transitioning ECP Software Technology into a Foundation for Sustainable Research Software

Research software plays a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge, but ensuring its sustainability, maintainability, and long-term viability is an ongoing challenge. The Sustainable Research Software Institute (SRSI) Model has been designed to address the concerns, and presents a comprehensive framework designed to promote sustainable practices in the research software community. However the SRSI Model does not address the transitional requirements for the Exascale Computing Project (ECP) Software Technology (ECP-ST) focus area specifically. This white paper provides an overview and detailed description of how ECP-ST will transition into the SRSI in a compressed time frame that a) meets the needs of the ECP end-of-technical-activities deadline; and b) ensures the continuity of the sustainability efforts that are already underway.

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arXiv2017

The Eclipse Integrated Computational Environment

Problems in modeling and simulation require significantly different workflow management technologies than standard grid-based workflow management systems. Computational scientists typically interact with simulation software in a feedback driven way were solutions and workflows are developed iteratively and simultaneously. This work describes common activities in workflows and how combinations of these activities form unique workflows. It presents the Eclipse Integrated Computational Environment as a workflow management system and development environment for the modeling and simulation community. Examples of the Environment's applicability to problems in energy science, general multiphysics simulations, quantum computing and other areas are presented as well as its impact on the community.

cs.SE↗