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  • +1 And if possible, have somebody else write the unit tests / generate the test data and expected results. Speaking from experience, it can be easy to introduce the same error into both your algorithm and your test data. Having two people do each of those tasks separately reduces that chance. Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 18:16
  • Thanks for the answer. Yes that's part of the problem, many of those larger models have been developed since the 90s, with many developers which haven't heard about unit testing. I asked because I am thinking about making an effort and introduce unit testing to the community. Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 18:24
  • @mmathis Wouldn't that be acceptance tests? Unit tests are generally about checking that each component of the software works as the developer intended, which is distinct from checking that the software as a whole produces the right results. In innovative simulation software you might not even have any way to generate the expected results without duplicating the effort to build a simulation. Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 18:55
  • @bdsl Whatever you call them, or whatever kind of test they actually are, it helps to have somebody else calculate the expected results. I'm not advocating the OP write a test to verify the complete weather simulation produces some set of expected results given an input, but there are many scientific / mathematical models / algorithms where this is the case - a method to integrate PDEs, for example, or to compute a Fourier Transform. Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 19:19
  • @mmathis Right, I think there's value in having both types of test. Acceptance tests it makes to have written by someone else. Having someone else write unit tests probably slows things down too much unless you work as a pair simultaneously. Having someone else review unit tests is absolutely worthwhile. Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 19:25