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Astrophysics Source Code Library: |
ASCL's main URL is ASCL.net . Many questions about ASCL.net are answered in our FAQ list. Email to ASCL.net can be sent to ascl@mtu.edu . ASCL.net was founded in March 1999.
In the opinion of the ASCL.net editors, source codes are increasingly important for the advancement of science in general and astrophysics in particular. Papers are meant to detail the general logic behind new results and ideas but rarely make available the source codes that generated these results.
We at ASCL.net feel there should be a formal on-line library for these source codes. Since one does not currently exist, we are trying to create one. We feel the advantages are at least three fold:
1. Increased Falsifiability
Perhaps a crucial error was made in the coding of a sound idea.
ASCL.net presents a way for authors to bolster their results
by demonstrating the integrity of their source code(s).
Conversely, ASCL.net presents a way for readers to bolster
their confidence in published results by checking details
of the source code(s).
2. Increased Communication
Perhaps an author finds it difficult to describe completely in the text
of a paper how the results were obtained. ASCL.net creates a way
for authors to present more detailed information about how their
computations were carried out.
3. Increased Utility
Perhaps an author has created a code that (s)he feels is
itself useful to other astrophysicists. ASCL.net creates a
way for these authors to disseminate a source code of
significant utility to astrophysicists.
ASCL.net is not meant to compete with journals, but to complement them. Journals do not usually publish source codes, and ASCL.net will not publish papers. In fact, to be archived in ASCL.net, astrophysics codes must have been used to generate results presented in (or submitted to) a refereed astronomy or astrophysics journal.
ASCL.net is not meant to compete with established software packages, although we recognize that there is some overlap. Packages such as IMSL and Numerical Recipes provide general math support for larger programs in astrophysics. Although useful general subroutines might be found by the inquisitive scientist searching ASCL.net, we expect most of ASCL.net's utility will be in routines that are so specific to branches of science and astrophysics that no commercial product is available or even financially feasible.