Why are we getting inconsistent results on Domino Data Lab vs when running our code locally?

Version: 

All versions of Domino

Issue:

You have the same data input, packages, code and IDE, yet the output of results is inconsistent with when run on Domino with what you get when run locally.

Root Cause:

There could be several reasons why your code might produce different results when running it in different environments, even if you have the same packages, code and IDE installed. Here are a few possibilities:

• Different package or library versions: Even if you have the same packages or library's installed, there may be differences in the specific versions of these. This can cause differences in the behaviour of functions or the output produced by your code. For example the underlying algorithms used by the package may have been updated in a newer version, or the newer version may include bug fixes that affect the output of the code.

• Different hardware or operating system: The hardware and operating system on which you are running your code can also affect its behaviour. For example, differences in the speed of the processor or the amount of available memory could lead to differences in the performance of your code.

• Different global options or settings: There may be differences in the global options or settings in the two different environments that could affect the behaviour of your code.

• Randomness: If your code includes random number generation, the output will be different each time the code is run because the random numbers will be different each time.

• External dependencies: If your code relies on external dependencies (such as web services or databases), the output could be different each time the code is run due to changes in the external dependencies.

• Different input data: It's possible that the input data being used in the two environments is slightly different, even if it appears to be the same. This could lead to different results.

Resolution:

To troubleshoot this issue, it will be important to carefully compare the two environments and identify any differences that may be causing the different results. You may also want to consider adding debugging statements or logging to the code to help track down the root cause of the issue.