Ten Simple Rules for Making Research Software More Robust

TL;DR

This paper provides ten straightforward guidelines to enhance the robustness of research software, ensuring it runs reliably across different environments and boosts reproducibility and user confidence.

Contribution

It introduces a practical set of ten rules specifically designed to improve the robustness and reproducibility of research software, addressing common issues faced by researchers.

Findings

Enhanced software robustness leads to better reproducibility.

Following the rules increases user confidence and collaboration.

Software becomes more portable and easier to maintain.

Abstract

Software produced for research, published and otherwise, suffers from a number of common problems that make it difficult or impossible to run outside the original institution, or even off the primary developer's computer. We present ten simple rules to make such software robust enough to run anywhere, and inspire confidence in your reproducibility, and thereby delight your users and collaborators.