We present a technique to automatically minimise the re-computation when a
data processing program is iteratively changed, or added to, as is often the
case in exploratory data analysis in radio astronomy. A typical example is
flagging and calibration of demanding or unusual observations where visual
inspection suggests improvement to the processing strategy. The technique is
based on memoization and referentially transparent tasks. We describe a
prototype implementation for the CASA data reduction package. This technique
improves the efficiency of data analysis while reducing the possibility for
user error and improving the reproducibility of the final result
