arXiv subjects

Simon Christ

Publications and source records attributed to Simon Christ.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer: Current State and Suggestions for Future Directions

The term Research Software Engineer, or RSE, emerged a little over 10 years ago as a way to represent individuals working in the research community but focusing on software development. The term has been widely adopted and there are a number of high-level definitions of what an RSE is. However, the roles of RSEs vary depending on the institutional context they work in. At one end of the spectrum, RSE roles may look similar to a traditional research role. At the other extreme, they resemble that of a software engineer in industry. Most RSE roles inhabit the space between these two extremes. Therefore, providing a straightforward, comprehensive definition of what an RSE does and what experience, skills and competencies are required to become one is challenging. In this community paper we define the broad notion of what an RSE is, explore the different types of work they undertake, and define a list of fundamental competencies as well as values that define the general profile of an RSE. On this basis, we elaborate on the progression of these skills along different dimensions, looking at specific types of RSE roles, proposing recommendations for organisations, and giving examples of future specialisations. An appendix details how existing curricula fit into this framework.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2022

Plots.jl -- a user extendable plotting API for the julia programming language

There are plenty of excellent plotting libraries. Each excels at a different use case: one is good for printed 2D publication figures, the other at interactive 3D graphics, a third has excellent L A TEX integration or is good for creating dashboards on the web. The aim of Plots.jl is to enable the user to use the same syntax to interact with many different plotting libraries, such that it is possible to change the library "backend" without needing to touch the code that creates the content -- and without having to learn yet another application programming interface (API). This is achieved by the separation of the plot specification from the implementation of the actual graphical backend. These plot specifications may be extended by a "recipe" system, which allows package authors and users to define how to plot any new type (be it a statistical model, a map, a phylogenetic tree or the solution to a system of differential equations) and create new types of plots -- without depending on the Plots.jl package. This supports a modular ecosystem structure for plotting and yields a high reuse potential across the entire julia package ecosystem. Plots.jl is publicly available at https://github.com/JuliaPlots/Plots.jl.

cs.GR↗

arXiv2016

Tristable and multiple bistable activity in complex random binary networks of two-state units

We study complex networks of stochastic two-state units. Our aim is to model discrete stochastic excitable dynamics with a rest and an excited state. Both states are assumed to possess different waiting time distributions. The rest state is treated as an activation process with an exponentially distributed life time, whereas the latter in the excited state shall have a constant mean which may originate from any distribution. The activation rate of any single unit is determined by its neighbors according to a random complex network structure. In order to treat this problem in an analytical way, we use a heterogeneous mean-field approximation yielding a set of equations general valid for uncorrelated random networks. Based on this derivation we focus on random binary networks where the network is solely comprised of nodes with either of two degrees. The ratio between the two degrees is shown to be a crucial parameter. Dependent on the composition of the network the steady states show the usual transition from disorder to homogeneous ordered bistability as well as new scenarios that include inhomogeneous ordered and disordered bistability as well as tristability. The various steady states differ in their spiking activity expressed by a state dependent spiking rate. Numerical simulations agree with analytic results of the heterogeneous mean-field approximation.

physics.soc-ph↗