Componentising a Scientific Application for the Grid

Building and evolving grid applications is complex. A promising approach to managing this complexity is component-based development, currently attracting growing interest in the grid community. Evaluating the effectiveness of component-based development requires real-world experience. To this end, this paper presents a case study in reengineering a high performance numerical solver to become a component-based grid application. The adopted component model is an extension of the generic Fractal model that specifically targets grid environments. The paper provides qualitative and quantitative evidence that componentisation has improved the modifiability and reusability of the application without significantly affecting performance.

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