Reproducibility of results is a strong requirement in most fields of research for experimental results to be called science. For results obtained through simulation software using high performance computing (HPC) this translates as code quality requirements. While there are many works focusing on software quality, these typically do not take the specificities of HPC simulation software into account. This talk presents an approach to introduce quality procedures in HPC Simulation Software while remaining the less invasive possible so as to ease its adoption. The approach we present is based on a dedicated work-flow that integrates quality procedures including (1) human code review (2) automated testing and (3) a dedicated procedure to help correct defects. We present how this approach has been adopted for the development of the Gysela code. We show that it is indeed viable and that the return on investment is positive. We identify the elements of this approach that can be reused for other codes and identify the aspects that can still be improved to ensure the widespread propagation of the approach in the community.

Julien Bigot est chercheur-ingénieur CEA à la Maison de la Simulation. Ses travaux portent sur les modèles de programmation et l'ingénierie logicielle pour les applications de calcul à haute performance.