Scientific software is fundamental to modern geoscientific research, yet its development and maintenance often receive less attention and recognition than the scientific results it enables. Time constraints, limited resources, and the pressure to deliver scientific outcomes can lead to software practices that compromise reproducibility, traceability, and long-term sustainability, ultimately limiting the reuse of methods and opportunities for scientific collaboration.

This session explores how good software development practices contribute to reproducible, sustainable, and open geoscientific research. We invite contributions sharing practical experiences, methodological approaches, and lessons learned in areas such as software design, modularisation, documentation, testing, version control, portability, and data workflows. We particularly welcome contributions addressing the challenges of implementing and maintaining these practices in real-world research environments.

We also encourage discussions on the opportunities and challenges of AI-assisted software development, including its implications for code quality, reproducibility, maintainability, and scientific responsibility. Hence, with this session we aim to foster an exchange on how software development can be better integrated into scientific practice and recognised as an essential component of research quality and scientific integrity.