# Data Science with Nix: Parameter Sweeps

DevFeed: [Data Science with Nix: Parameter Sweeps](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/data-science-with-nix-parameter-sweeps-34136.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.nixbuild.net/posts/2021-04-26-data-science-with-nix-parameter-sweeps.html>)

Author: support@nixbuild.net

Published: 2021-04-26T00:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [nixbuild.net blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/nixbuild-net-blog.md>)

Topics: [Nix](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/nix.md>), [Data Science](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data-science.md>), [Simulation](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/simulation.md>), [builds](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/builds.md>)

Tags: [benchmarking](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/benchmarking.md>), [data-science](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data-science.md>), [hpc](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hpc.md>), [parameter](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/parameter.md>), [simulation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/simulation.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>)

## AI overview

This practical article explains parameter sweeps in scientific computing and their equivalent in software build matrices. It demonstrates how Nix and nixbuild.net can manage tasks involving many input-parameter combinations, including simulations, builds, and benchmarks.

## Source excerpt

Parameter sweeping is a technique often utilized in scientific computing and HPC settings. In the mainstream software industry the concept is called a build matrix. The idea is that you have a task you want to perform with varying input parameters. If the task takes multiple parameters, and you'd like to try it out with multiple values for each parameter, it is easy to end up with a combinatorial explosion. This blog post gives a practical demonstration showing how Nix is a perfect companion for managing parameter sweeps and build matrices, and how nixbuild.net can be used to supercharge your workflow. My hope is that this text can interest readers that don't know anything about Nix as well as experienced Nix users. Use Cases In scientific computing, it is common to run simulations of physical processes. The list of things simulated is endless: weather forecasting, molecular dynamics, celestial movements, FEM analysis, particle physics etc. A simulation is usually implemented directly as a computer program or as a description for a higher level simulation framework. A simulation generally has a set of input parameters that can be defined. These parameters can describe initial states, environmental aspects or tweak the behavior of the simulation algorithm itself. Scientists are interested in comparing simulation results for a range of different parameter values, and the process of doing so is referred to as a parameter sweep. Parameter sweeping is often built into simulation frameworks. For simulations implemented directly as specialized programs, scientists will simply run the program over and over again with different parameters, collecting and comparing the results. When supercomputers are used for running the simulations, the job scheduler usually has some support for launching multiple simulation instances with varying parameters. In the software industry, the term build matrix is used to mean basically the same thing as parameter sweeping. Regularly, build matr