Reproducing software environments: a prerequisite for reproducible research

TL;DR

Reproducing software environments is essential for reproducible research, requiring tools and methods to reliably redeploy software setups beyond just archiving source code.

Contribution

The paper highlights the importance of environment redeployment for reproducibility and explores tools and methods to achieve this.

Findings

Archiving source code alone is insufficient for reproducibility.

Tools for environment recreation are crucial for scientific workflows.

Reproducible environments enhance research reliability.

Abstract

As software has become an integral part of scientific workflows, reproducible research practices must take it into account. In what way? Archiving source code is a necessary but insufficient condition. The ability to redeploy software environments, which at first sight may be viewed as a technical detail, is in fact a requirement. This article explores tools and methods to achieve this goal.