Choosing a Bioinformatics Workflow Management System
Bioinformatics workflow management systems (WfMSs) are designed to facilitate large-scale bioinformatics analysis. Typically, these workflows operate on files. They have two main elements: a language and an execution engine. Each WfMS has its own unique method of logging messages. In the bioinformatics community, the most popular WfMSs are Nextflow and CWL. The two have similar semantics and engine features. However, they are often used in different environments. Nextflow combines a workflow language with an execution engine. This allows for easy extensibility of pipelines. Additionally, it handles software dependencies. It also supports data streaming. With Nextflow, functions are treated as first class objects. These functions can be used in the same ways as variables. Nextflow is built on Singularity, a Docker container platform. Another notable feature is the ability to execute workflows in different configurations. As a result, the workflow can be restarted from a task witho...