Instructors: Matt Gidden, Steve Mcgough, Aronne Merrelli, Paul Wilson

What: Our goal is to help anyone using computing in their research to become more productive by teaching them basic computing skills like program design, version control, testing, and task automation. In this two-day boot camp, short tutorials will alternate with hands-on practical exercises. Participants will be encouraged both to help one another, and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems during and between sessions. There will be online follow-up sessions for 6 to 8 weeks extending the material from the boot camp.

Who: The course is aimed at graduate students, post-docs, staff, and faculty who have basic familiarity with programming concepts (like loops, conditionals, arrays, and functions), but need help translating this knowledge into practical tools to help them work more productively.

Content: The syllabus for this boot camp will include:

• using the shell to do more in less time
• using version control to manage and share information
• workflow automation and scripting (with Python as example)
• how (and how much) to test programs
• documentation and debugging

Requirements: Participants must bring a laptop with a few specific software packages installed. Please visit the boot camp web page for installation instructions. Note: we'll be relying on the Union South wireless network.

Contact: Please mail for more information.