Coding in Science: Balancing Time and Sustainability

[tfoerst3r]

This is one of the challenging questions I face during my daily business at the Helmholtz centers. Best practices or experience exchange can be part of this discussion

[HeidiSeibold]

Thanks @tfoerst3r for suggesting this topic 🙌

Do you have an output in mind that you'd like to see for this? Could it be personal stories, a practical support flyer, ...
Or do you rather want this to be a session for exchange without any output (other than everyone feeling better 😉)

[tscheypidi]

@tfoerst3r excellent topic. I also have to think a lot about this in my daily work. How strict should coding guidelines be? Where is the sweet spot between too restrictive and too free and is that sweet spot in research perhaps different to the one in commercial software development? I would be happy to contribute in case you are looking for help preparing the session.

[tfoerst3r]

This is an open question. I believe there is no decisive answer to give because it is a very diverse topic. I may think about specific scenarios or we could discuss scenarios. The goal would be to identify problems and talk about solving them.

[tscheypidi]

@tfoerst3r The questions above were also more meant as potential questions one could discuss in such a session. Only question for now is whether you would be interested in having some support preparing the session or whether you prefer to prepare it on your own? I would be happy to join you in the preparation in case you are interested.

[tfoerst3r]

Help is always welcome.

[pancetta]

Hi @tfoerst3r, very interesting proposal, thanks! As we're (slowly) moving toward more specific submissions, could you please add more details to the proposal? Do you already have a (shorter) title in mind and a quick abstract/appetizer? Could you name 1-3 people as contact person for this session? How would you organize this session, what outcomes could you think of (see question from @HeidiSeibold)?

[tfoerst3r]

Abstract proposal

Coding in Science: Balancing Time and Sustainability

The topic of sustainable coding practices is becoming increasingly important as the field of scientific research relies more heavily on coding and computational methods. Many tools and best practices are available for scientists interested in balancing sustainable coding practices with their time restrictions. By adopting these practices, scientists can ensure that their code is robust, maintainable, and reusable, which can ultimately save time and resources in the long run.

This workshop consists in the first part of a guided discussion of the participants' experiences and, later on, of a hands-on session, motivated in parts by the Carpentries Workshop "Good Enough Practices in Scientific Computing".

[tfoerst3r]

I want to start with an open discussion in small groups, like done in the deRSE (last day), and then address some topics based on the proposed workshop material + own input.

What is the time frame I can work with?

[pancetta]

You have multiples of 90 minutes. I.e. you could have some slot to start and then another one to gather everything. How much would you think is sufficient?

[tfoerst3r]

Coding in Science: Balancing Time and Sustainability

Abstract

The topic of sustainable coding practices is becoming increasingly important as the field of scientific research relies more heavily on coding and computational methods. Many tools and best practices are available for scientists interested in balancing sustainable coding practices with their time restrictions. By adopting these practices, scientists can ensure that their code is robust, maintainable, and reusable, ultimately saving time and resources in the long run.

On one side of the spectrum, those best practices only slowly migrate to workflows in the scientific community, especially for scientists without a computer engineering background. On the other side, an over-exaggerated use of industrial-style standards also handicaps a productive development environment. This workshop consists of a guided discussion of the participants' experiences regarding the right balance between the proper use for balancing time and sustainability constraints.

The result of this discussion is the foundation of a blog entry to propagate this topic further.

Organizers and Speakers

• Thomas Förster (@tfoerst3r)
• Jan Dietrich (@tscheypidi)

Format (Presentation and Discussion)

• Introduction (20min)

  • General Introduction
  • Scenario A: Benefits of using improved software engineering workflows
  • Scenario B: Benefits of using the right balance of professional software engineering workflows

• Discussion (30..40min)

  • What are No-Brainer software engineering options? (5min)
  • What could be potentially too much software engineering? (5min)
  • How to determine what software engineering investments make sense? (20min)

• Summary Session (30min)

Overall duration: 90 min

[mmesiti]

I think this is a very fundamental topic. I guess nobody in his right mind would ever argue that best practices and tools should not ever be used, but the resistance in adopting them might come not only from hidden costs that can be hard to estimate, but also from experience or data about those that does not seem to support the

Identifying where those tipping points are and whether appropriate tooling can change the cost curve is in my opinion a crucial, recurring question for RSEs (but possibly everybody doing any work, honestly).

I would have liked to propose a breakout session on testing and development strategies (e.g.: is TDD worth it? If so, when?) but I think that it would collide with this question or be too specific. If there is any way I can help with this, I am happy to do so.