The full software and hardware context in which an analysis runs, including operating system, language runtime, library versions, configuration, environment variables, and hardware-specific dependencies (e.g., GPU drivers).

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A renv.lock file pinning every R package version used by an analysis.
Is an instance
A Dockerfile producing a reproducible Ubuntu 22.04 image with Python 3.11 and pinned dependencies.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A 'requirements.txt' with unpinned versions (>= or ranges).
Not an instance
A README listing language versions without pinning libraries.

Editorial commentary

Capturing the computational environment is a prerequisite for computational reproducibility because the same code may produce different results under different library versions, BLAS implementations, or floating-point modes. Approaches include lock files (renv, Poetry, conda-lock), container images, and full virtual machines.

References

Boettiger, 'An introduction to Docker for reproducible research' (ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review, 2015).

Also known as

execution environment · research environment

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Computational environment"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/computational-environment" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/computational-environment",
  "name": "Computational environment",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/computational-environment",
  "description": "The full software and hardware context in which an analysis runs, including operating system, language runtime, library versions, configuration, environment variables, and hardware-specific dependencies (e.g., GPU drivers).",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/reproducibility#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/computational-environment",
  "sameAs": [
    "execution environment",
    "research environment"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-05-21T02:22:49",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

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