A literate experimentation manifesto

Abstract

This paper proposes a new approach to experimental computer systems research, which we call Literate Experimentation. Conventionally, experimental procedure and writeup are divided into distinct phases: i.e. setup (the method), data collection (the results) and analysis (the evaluation of the results). Our concept of a literate experiment is to have a single, rich, human-generated, text-based description of a particular experiment, from which can be automatically derived: (1) a summary of the experimental setup to include in the paper; (2) a sequence of executable commands to setup a computer platform ready to perform the actual experiment; (3) the experiment itself, executed on this appropriately configured platform; and, (4) a means of generating results tables and graphs from the experimental output, ready for inclusion in the paper.