Astronomy Source Code Library Closes In On 600 Codes!

Since I first wrote about it in in July 2011, the Astronomy Source Code Library (ASCL) has grown from referencing 200 codes to close on 600. This valuable resource, run entirely by volunteer effort, indexes codes that have been used in the production of peer-reviewed astronomy papers. Rather than acting as a code repository, the ASCL offers descriptions of codes, and links, contacts references where astronomers may learn more about them and, if made public, download them and get in contact with developers.

Codes in ASCL are indexed by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) and are citable by using the unique ASCL number assigned to each code.  The codes summary page includes all these ASCL numbers, which may be embedded in peer-reviewed papers to give developers credit for their work.

The library is active in explaining the benefits of code sharing to astronomers and encouraging them to share their software. It has run sessions on this topic at two recent meetings: Astrophysics Code Sharing, at the 221st AAS meeting in Long Beach, CA (Jan 9-13, 2013), and Bring out your codes! Bring out your codes! (Increasing Software Visibility and Re-use) at the Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems (ADASS) XXII conference in Urbana-Champaign, IL (November 4-8, 2012).

Here are some of the codes added in February alone:

ACS: ALMA Common Software
DisPerSE: Discrete Persistent Structures Extractor
EPICS: Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System
ESO-MIDAS: General tools for image processing and data reduction
FASTPHOT: A simple and quick IDL PSF-fitting routine

GALA: Stellar atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances
GRID-core: Gravitational potential identification of cores
IAS Stacking Library in IDL
ICORE: Image Co-addition with Optional Resolution Enhancement
ISIS: Interactive Spectral Interpretation System

Disclosure: I am a member of the ASCL Advisory Board.