Relative debugging and its application to the development of large numerical models

Because large scientific codes are rarely static objects, developers are often faced with the tedious task of accounting for discrepancies between new and old versions. In this paper, we describe a new technique called relative debugging that addresses this problem by automating the process of compa...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abramson, David, Foster, Ian, Michalakes, John, Sosic, Rok
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied computing > Physical sciences and engineering
Atmospheric modeling
Australia
Computer science
Computer systems organization > Architectures > Distributed architectures > Grid computing
Computer systems organization > Architectures > Parallel architectures > Multicore architectures
Computer systems organization > Architectures > Serial architectures > Superscalar architectures
Computer systems organization > Dependable and fault-tolerant systems and networks
Computing methodologies > Modeling and simulation > Simulation types and techniques > Massively parallel and high-performance simulations
Debugging
General and reference > Cross-computing tools and techniques > Performance
Guard
Information systems > Data management systems > Middleware for databases > Distributed transaction monitors
Information technology
Laboratories
Mathematics
Meteorology
MM5
Networks > Network performance evaluation
Numerical models
Parallel processing
Parallelism
Programming profession
Relative Debugging
Scientific Computing
Software and its engineering > Software organization and properties > Contextual software domains > Operating systems > Process management > Monitors
Software and its engineering > Software organization and properties > Software system structures > Distributed systems organizing principles > Grid computing
Theory of computation > Models of computation > Concurrency
Theory of computation > Models of computation > Concurrency > Parallel computing models
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Description
Summary:Because large scientific codes are rarely static objects, developers are often faced with the tedious task of accounting for discrepancies between new and old versions. In this paper, we describe a new technique called relative debugging that addresses this problem by automating the process of comparing a modified code against a correct reference code. We examine the utility of the relative debugging technique by applying a relative debugger called Guard to a range of debugging problems in a large atmospheric circulation model. Our experience confirms the effectiveness of the approach. Using Guard, we are able to validate a new sequential version of the atmospheric model, and to identify the source of a significant discrepancy in a parallel version in a short period of time.
DOI:10.1145/224170.224350