OpenBUGS

OpenBUGS is a computer software for the Bayesian analysis of complex statistical models using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. OpenBUGS is the open source variant of WinBUGS (Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling). The latest version can run on Windows and Linux, as well as from inside the R statistical package.

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Programming language

The source code of OpenBUGS is written in the Component Pascal programming language and is dependent on the Component Pascal libraries provided by Oberon as part of Blackbox. The compilation of OpenBUGS is straightforward for Windows, but less well documented for Linux. An alternative installation solution is to try running Winbugs through Wine. Installation problems, development and usage questions are discussed at the OpenBUGS Bulletin Board.

Attempt to port OpenBUGS to Java with the Gardens Point Component Pascal were given up in favor of a new portable implementation called JAGS [1].

The BUGS language is the language that specifies the model code. It's parsed by OpenBUGS, which then creates an executable (compile code) that generates a sample from the a posteriori distribution when run (update). OpenBUGS works well together with R, its syntax has similarities to R, the BRugs module provides some interoperability, and R modules help further analyses.