Glossary
- task
- The basic building block of a calculation. A task consists of a Python
function and the arguments passed into it (inputs). The result of
a task is the return value of the function (output). A task depends on
other tasks when its inputs reference outputs of other tasks. When
run, a task can create new tasks, and its output may reference outputs
of those tasks.
- rule
- Recipe for creating tasks. Calling a rule with soem arguments creates
a task with those arguments as inputs.
- task factory
- Generalization of a rule that returns a task when called, but may first
preprocess the arguments before assigning them as inputs to the task.
- directory task
- A special kind of file-based task which has an executable instead of
a Python function and files instead of arguments, and the output is
a collection of files generated by the executable when run in
a temporary directory with the input files present.
