Releasing Scientific Software in GitHub: A Case Study on SWMM2PEST

Abstract

Release engineering involves code development, integration, testing, and software delivery. It has been widely applied to deliver high-quality software to users. While release engineering is a widespread practice in the software industry, there have been very few studies on the release engineering pipeline of scientific software. To shorten this gap, we present a case study in this paper to show a GitHub-driven release workflow on SWMM2PEST, a software system automating parameter calibration for the U.S. EPA's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). Moreover, we analyze software version updates and requirements changes to develop strategies for improving the ongoing releases. The feasibility of improvement strategies is demonstrated by our consecutively released versions of SWMM2PEST. The results offered insights into the continuous release of scientific software.