AutoBayes automatically generates customized algorithms from compact, declarative specifications in the data analysis domain, taking a statistical model as input and creating documented and optimized C/C++ code. The synthesis process uses Bayesian networks to enable problem decompositions and guide the algorithm derivation. Program schemas encapsulate advanced algorithms and data structures, and a symbolic-algebraic system finds closed-form solutions for problems and emerging subproblems. AutoBayes has been used to analyze planetary nebulae images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and can be applied to other scientific data analysis tasks.

optBINS (optimal binning) determines the optimal number of bins in a uniform bin-width histogram by deriving the posterior probability for the number of bins in a piecewise-constant density model after assigning a multinomial likelihood and a non-informative prior. The maximum of the posterior probability occurs at a point where the prior probability and the the joint likelihood are balanced. The interplay between these opposing factors effectively implements Occam's razor by selecting the most simple model that best describes the data.