LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
Over the last several years, the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser, has regularly conducted approximately 400 shots per year. Each experiment is defined by up to 48 unique pulse shapes, with each pulse shape potentially having thousands of configurable data points. The importance of accurately representing small changes in pulse shape, illustrated by the historic ignition experiment in December 2022, highlights the necessity for pulse designers at NIF to have access to robust, easy to use, and accurate design software that can integrate with the existing and future ecosystem of software at NIF. To develop and maintain this type of complex software, the Shot Data Systems (SDS) group has recently embraced leveraging a common set of recommended technologies and frameworks for software development across their suite of applications. This paper will detail SDS’s experience migrating an existing legacy Java Swing-based pulse shape editor into a modern web application leveraging technologies recommended by the common tech stack, including Spring Boot, TypeScript, React and Docker with Kubernetes, as well as discuss how embracing a common set of technologies influenced the migration path, improved the developer experience, and how it will benefit the extensibility and maintainability of the application for years to come.
LLNL Release Number: LLNL-ABS-848203
