automan: a simple, Python-based, automation framework for numerical computing

TL;DR

Automan is a user-friendly Python framework that automates numerical simulations, enables reproducibility of figures, and supports distributed computing, streamlining research workflows in numerical computing.

Contribution

It introduces a simple, Python-based automation framework that enhances reproducibility and scalability of computational research in numerical computing.

Findings

Facilitates reproducing all figures with a single command

Supports distributed computation across multiple machines

Has been successfully used in published research papers

Abstract

We present an easy-to-use, Python-based framework that allows a researcher to automate their computational simulations. In particular the framework facilitates assembling several long-running computations and producing various plots from the data produced by these computations. The framework makes it possible to reproduce every figure made for a publication with a single command. It also allows one to distribute the computations across a network of computers. The framework has been used to write research papers in numerical computing. This paper discusses the design of the framework, and the benefits of using it. The ideas presented are general and should help researchers organize their computations for better reproducibility.