Automated continuous verification for numerical simulation

Abstract

Verification is a process crucially important for the final users of a computational model: code is useless if its results cannot be relied upon. Typically, verification is seen as a discrete event, performed once and for all after development is complete. However, this does not reflect the reality that many geoscientific codes undergo continuous development of the mathematical model, discretisation and software implementation. Therefore, we advocate that in such cases verification must be continuous and happen in parallel with development: the desirability of their automation follows immediately. This paper discusses a framework for automated continuous verification of wide applicability to any kind of numerical simulation. It also documents a range of test cases to show the possibilities of the framework.