What software engineering can do for computational science and engineering

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly common for scientists and engineers to use software simulations to replace dangerous or expensive experimentation. In other domains, such as earth science, experiments may not be particularly dangerous or expensive, but take so long that it is more efficient for scientists and engineers to use software simulations instead of performing direct experimentation. Because of this heavy reliance on the results of software simulations, it is vital for the software to produce accurate results. To help ensure accurate results, software should be correctly designed and implemented. In more general applications, software engineering (SE) researchers and practitioners have developed practices that help developers design their software and implement those designs.