Software Carpentry: A Practical Introduction to Good Programming Practices
Cambridge University
Craik-Marshall Building, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3ARAug 26-27, 2014
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
General Information
Software Carpentry's mission is to help scientists and engineers become more productive by teaching them basic principles of good programming, which are applicable to any coding language or application. This includes program design, version control, data management, and task automation. These best practices will make your programs more sustainable, vastly reducing replication in your code over time, and make them easier to share with team members, collaborators and even in publications. This two-day hands-on bootcamp will cover basic concepts and tools; tutorials will cover the Unix Shell and version control in git, plus structured programming, managing data and testing, which will all be covered using python. Teaching will be a combination of live coding guided by the trainer and independent practical exercises.
Post course survey
Please fill in our post-course survey
Etherpad: Link to the etherpad.
Registration: Participants can register for this course at http://training.csx.cam.ac.uk/event/1191678
Instructors: Rob Beagrie, Thomas Kluyver
Helpers: Jelena Aleksic, David Molnar
Who: The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers who want to learn core skills and best practices for scientific computing. We will assume no prior knowledge, so novices are welcome! We will be using Python to explore program design, but we aim to cover principles that are applicable to other programming languages, so if you're an R or Matlab user you can also learn something useful.
Where: Craik-Marshall Building, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3AR. Get directions with OpenStreetMap or Google Maps.
Requirements: We will be using one of the University's computer teaching rooms, so participants do not need to bring their own laptops.
Contact: Please mail cambridge@lists.software-carpentry.org for more information.
Schedule
Day 1
| 09:00 | Automating tasks with the Unix shell |
| 10:30 | Coffee break |
| 12:00 | Lunch break |
| 13:00 | Version control with Git |
| 14:30 | Coffee break |
| 16:00 | Wrap-up |
Day 2
| 09:00 | Building programs with Python |
| 10:30 | Coffee break |
| 12:00 | Lunch break |
| 13:00 | Testing and debugging in Python |
| 14:30 | Coffee break |
| 16:00 | Wrap-up |
Syllabus
The Unix Shell
- Files and directories:
pwd,cd,ls,mkdir, ... - History and tab completion
- Pipes and redirection
- Looping over files
- Creating and running shell scripts
- Finding things:
grep,find, ... - Lesson material
- Reference...
- If you finish the material before the rest of the group, try reading about:
- Or if you're already very familiar with the shell, you could learn about Make.
Programming in Python
- Using libraries
- Working with arrays
- Reading and plotting data
- Creating and using functions
- Loops and conditionals:
for,if,else, ... - Defensive programming
- Using Python from the command line
- Lesson material
- Reference...
- If you finish the material before the rest of the group, try reading about:
- Or if you're already familiar with python, try some more advanced material:
Version Control with Git
- Creating a repository
- Recording changes to files:
add,commit, ... - Viewing changes:
status,diff, ... - Ignoring files
- Working on the web:
clone,pull,push, ... - Resolving conflicts
- Open licenses
- Where to host work, and why
- Lesson material
- Reference...
- If you finish the material before the rest of the group, try reading about:
Setup
During this bootcamp, we will be using computers provided by the University of Cambridge. When you want to apply some of the tools and techniques we're going to show you to your own work, you will probably need to install some software on your work computer. It's quite common for attendees to have some issues installing some of these tools, so please try to follow the instructions on our Setup page before the bootcamp. That way, if you run into any problems, you will be able to ask the helpers or instructors for advice.