WinBUGS

{{Short description|Statistical software for Bayesian analysis}}

{{Infobox software

|name = WinBUGS

|logo = BUGS logo.gif

|screenshot =

|caption =

|collapsible =

|author =

|developer = The BUGS Project

|released = {{Start date and age|1997}}

|discontinued = yes

|latest release version = 1.4.3

|latest release date = {{Start date and age|2007|08|06}}

|latest preview version =

|latest preview date =

|programming language = Component Pascal

|operating system = Microsoft Windows

|platform =

|size =

|language = English

|status =

|genre = Statistical package

|license = Freeware

|website =

}}

WinBUGS is statistical software for Bayesian analysis using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods.

It is based on the BUGS (Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling) project started in 1989. It runs under Microsoft Windows, though it can also be run on Linux or Mac using Wine.[http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=17849&iTestingId=44665 WinBUGS on Wine AppDB]

It was developed by the BUGS Project, a team of British researchers at the MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge, and Imperial College School of Medicine, London. Originally intended to solve problems encountered in medical statistics, it soon became widely used in other disciplines, such as ecology, sociology, and geology.{{cite journal |first=Stephen P. |last=Brooks |title=Bayesian Computation: A Statistical Revolution |journal=Philosophical Transactions: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |volume=361 |issue=1813 |pages=2681–2697 |year=2003 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2003.1263 |jstor=3559268 |pmid=14667292 |bibcode=2003RSPTA.361.2681B |s2cid=7900994 }}

The last version of WinBUGS was version 1.4.3, released in August 2007. Development is now focused on OpenBUGS, an open-source version of the package. WinBUGS 1.4.3 remains available as a stable version for routine use, but is no longer being developed.{{Cite journal | last1 = Lunn | first1 = D. | last2 = Spiegelhalter | first2 = D. | last3 = Thomas | first3 = A. | last4 = Best | first4 = N. | title = The BUGS project: Evolution, critique and future directions | journal = Statistics in Medicine | volume = 28 | issue = 25 | pages = 3049–3067 | year = 2009 | doi = 10.1002/sim.3680 | pmid=19630097| s2cid = 7717482 }}{{cite web|last=Thomas|first=Neal|title=Overview|url=http://www.openbugs.net/w/Overview|work=OpenBUGS website|access-date=9 October 2010|date=2010-01-20}}