Challenge to test reproducibility of old computer code

We question whether analytical tools such as Common Workflow Language, which aim to make computational methods “reproducible and shareable”, can stand the test of time (see Nature 573, 149–150; 2019). The long-term validity of computational results will not be testable if the original code cannot be run many years later. Considering the rapidity of transformations in operating systems and programming languages, it is hard to predict the lifetime...