The pylauncher is a python-based parametric job launcher, that is, a utility for executing many small jobs in parallel. On many batch-based cluster computers this is a better strategy than submitting many small individual small jobs.
There are various scenarios where you want to run a large number of serial or low-core-count parallel jobs. Many cluster scheduling systems do not allow you to submit a large number of small jobs (and it would probably lower your priority!) so it would be a good idea to package them into one large parallel job.
Victor Eijkhout Research Associate, High Performance Computing
