Preprint Technical Note Version 2 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

DAPT: A Package Enabling Distributed Automated Parameter Testing

Version 1 : Received: 1 March 2021 / Approved: 2 March 2021 / Online: 2 March 2021 (22:21:47 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 3 May 2021 / Approved: 10 May 2021 / Online: 10 May 2021 (09:47:54 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Duggan, B.; Metzcar, J.; Macklin, P. DAPT: A Package Enabling Distributed Automated Parameter Testing. Gigabyte, 2021, 2021, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.22. Duggan, B.; Metzcar, J.; Macklin, P. DAPT: A Package Enabling Distributed Automated Parameter Testing. Gigabyte, 2021, 2021, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.22.

Abstract

Modern agent-based models (ABM) and other simulation models require evaluation and testing of many different parameters. Managing that testing for large scale parameter sweeps (grid searches) as well as storing simulation data requires multiple, potentially customizable steps that may vary across simulations. Furthermore, parameter testing, processing, and analysis are slowed if simulation and processing jobs cannot be shared across teammates or computational resources. While high-performance computing (HPC) has become increasingly available, models can often be tested faster through the use of multiple computers and HPC resources. To address these issues, we created the Distributed Automated Parameter Testing (DAPT) Python package. By hosting parameters in an online (and often free) "database", multiple individuals can run parameter sets simultaneously in a distributed fashion, enabling ad hoc crowdsourcing of computational power. Combining this with a flexible, scriptable tool set, teams can evaluate models and assess their underlying hypotheses quickly. Here we describe DAPT and provide an example demonstrating its use.

Keywords

DAPT; workflow; agent-based modeling; model exploration; crowdsourcing

Subject

Computer Science and Mathematics, Algebra and Number Theory

Comments (2)

Comment 1
Received: 10 May 2021
Commenter: Paul Macklin
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author
Comment: Updated after peer review and other feedback. 
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Comment 2
Received: 8 June 2021
Commenter:
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: I am an author of this preprint.
Comment: Now published at https://dx.doi.org/10.46471/gigabyte.22
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