The deal.II finite element library: Design, features, and insights. (1st January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Arndt, Daniel; Bangerth, Wolfgang; Davydov, Denis; Heister, Timo; Heltai, Luca; Kronbichler, Martin; Maier, Matthias; Pelteret, Jean-Paul; Turcksin, Bruno; Wells, David
• Is Part Of: Computers & mathematics with applications. Volume 81(2021)
• Page Start: 407
• Page End: 422
• Publication Date: 2021-01-01
• Subjects: Finite elements -- Mathematical software -- Scientific computing -- Software design; Electronic data processing -- Periodicals; Mathematics -- Data processing -- Periodicals; 510.28541
• DOI: 10.1016/j.camwa.2020.02.022
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0898-1221

Abstract

Abstract: deal.II is a state-of-the-art finite element library focused on generality, dimension-independent programming, parallelism, and extensibility. Herein, we outline its primary design considerations and its sophisticated features such as distributed meshes, h p -adaptivity, support for complex geometries, and matrix-free algorithms. But deal.II is more than just a software library: It is also a diverse and worldwide community of developers and users, as well as an educational platform. We therefore also discuss some of the technical and social challenges and lessons learned in running a large community software project over the course of two decades.