ABSTRACT
Software development remains a central problem for large-scale parallel computing systems and as a result productivity for these systems is continuously hampered. Developing the codes to run on these systems requires new approaches. This paper discusses a software development environment that is focused on the domain of computational engineering problems that employ the finite element method. The Simple, Parallel, Object-Oriented Computing Environment for the Finite Element Method (SPOOCEFEM) is an active development environment designed to achieve the goals of a productive library while delivering required parallel performance. It incorporates all the benefits of object-oriented design and has proven utility in several applications. This paper describes the design and implementation of SPOOCEFEM, provides metrics on its utility, and discusses how the system is used in practice.