index.html

---
layout: bootcamp
root: .
venue: Cambridge University
address: Craik-Marshall Building, University of Cambridge, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3AR
country: United-Kingdom
humandate: Aug 26-27, 2014
humantime: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
startdate: 2014-08-26
enddate: 2014-08-27
latlng: 52.201893,0.12303
registration: open
instructor: ["Rob Beagrie", "Thomas Kluyver"]
helper: ["Jelena Aleksic", "David Molnar"]
contact: cambridge@lists.software-carpentry.org
---

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<h2>General Information</h2>

<p>
  <a href="//software-carpentry.org">Software Carpentry</a>'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.

</p>

<h3>Post course survey</h3>
<p>Please fill in our <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XG81TwBAky0ny8VsaHQj9RHrA_pe2rilW8wf8ljRE4A/edit">post-course survey</a>
</p>

<p>
<strong>Etherpad:</strong>
<a href="https://swcuk.etherpad.mozilla.org/20">Link to the etherpad.</a>
</p>


<p>
  <strong>Registration:</strong>
  Participants can register for this course at <a href="http://training.csx.cam.ac.uk/event/1191678">http://training.csx.cam.ac.uk/event/1191678</a>
</p>

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</p>
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  <strong>Helpers:</strong>
  {{page.helper | join: ', ' %}}
</p>
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<!--
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    In particular, if it is only open to people from a particular institution,
    or if specialized prerequisite knowledge is required, please mention that.
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<p>
  <strong>Who:</strong>
  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.
</p>

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  <strong>Where:</strong>
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  Get directions with
  <a href="//www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat={{ page.latlng | replace:',','&mlon=' }}&zoom=16">OpenStreetMap</a>
  or
  <a href="//maps.google.com/maps?q={{ page.latlng }}">Google Maps</a>.
</p>
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<p>
  <strong>Requirements:</strong>
  We will be using one of the University's computer teaching rooms, so participants do not need to bring their own laptops.
</p>

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<p>
  <strong>Contact</strong>:
  Please mail
  {% if page.contact %}
    <a href='mailto:{{page.contact}}'>{{page.contact}}</a>
  {% else %}
    <a href='mailto:{{site.contact}}'>{{site.contact}}</a>
  {% endif %}
  for more information.
</p>

<hr/>

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<h2>Schedule</h2>

<div class="row-fluid">
  <div class="span6">
    <h3>Day 1</h3>
    <table class="table table-striped">
      <tr> <td>09:00</td> <td>Automating tasks with the Unix shell</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td><em>10:30</em></td> <td><em>Coffee break</em></td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>12:00</td> <td>Lunch break</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>13:00</td> <td>Version control with Git</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td><em>14:30</em></td> <td><em>Coffee break</em></td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>16:00</td> <td>Wrap-up</td> </tr>
    </table>
  </div>
  <div class="span6">
    <h3>Day 2</h3>
    <table class="table table-striped">
      <tr> <td>09:00</td> <td>Building programs with Python</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td><em>10:30</em></td> <td><em>Coffee break</em></td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>12:00</td> <td>Lunch break</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>13:00</td> <td>Testing and debugging in Python</td> </tr>
      <tr> <td><em>14:30</em></td> <td><em>Coffee break</em></td> </tr>
      <tr> <td>16:00</td> <td>Wrap-up</td> </tr>
    </table>
  </div>
</div>

<hr/>

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<h2>Syllabus</h2>

<div class="row-fluid">
  <div class="span6">
    <h3>The Unix Shell</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Files and directories: <code>pwd</code>, <code>cd</code>, <code>ls</code>, <code>mkdir</code>, ...</li>
      <li>History and tab completion</li>
      <li>Pipes and redirection</li>
      <li>Looping over files</li>
      <li>Creating and running shell scripts</li>
      <li>Finding things: <code>grep</code>, <code>find</code>, ...</li>
      <li><a href="novice/shell/">Lesson material</a></li>
      <li><a href="novice/ref/01-shell.html">Reference...</a></li>
      <li>If you finish the material before the rest of the group, try reading about:</li>
      <ul>
          <li><a href="novice/extras/03-man.html">Manual pages</a></li>
          <li><a href="novice/extras/04-permissions.html">Permissions</a></li>
          <li><a href="novice/extras/05-shellvar.html">Shell variables</a></li>
      </ul>
      <li>Or if you're already very familiar with the shell, you could <a href="http://software-carpentry.org/v4/make/index.html">learn about Make.</a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>
  <div class="span6">
    <h3>Programming in Python</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Using libraries</li>
      <li>Working with arrays</li>
      <li>Reading and plotting data</li>
      <li>Creating and using functions</li>
      <li>Loops and conditionals: <code>for</code>, <code>if</code>, <code>else</code>, ...</li>
      <li>Defensive programming</li>
      <li>Using Python from the command line</li>
      <li><a href="novice/python/">Lesson material</a></li>
      <li><a href="novice/ref/03-python.html">Reference...</a></li>
      <li>If you finish the material before the rest of the group, try reading about:</li>
      <ul>
          <li><a href="novice/extras/07-exceptions.html">Exceptions</a></li>
          <li><a href="novice/extras/08-numbers.html">Numbers</a></li>
      </ul>
      <li>Or if you're already familiar with python, try some more advanced material:</li>
      <ul>
          <li><a href="intermediate/python/01-intro-python.html">Python refresher</a></li>
          <li><a href="intermediate/python/02-modularization-documentation.html">Modularization</a></li>
          <li><a href="intermediate/python/03-qa.html">Defensive programming</a></li>
          <li><a href="http://scipy-lectures.github.io/">Scientific Python</a></li>
      </ul>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

<div class="row-fluid">
  <div class="span6">
    <h3>Version Control with Git</h3>
    <ul>
      <li>Creating a repository</li>
      <li>Recording changes to files: <code>add</code>, <code>commit</code>, ...</li>
      <li>Viewing changes: <code>status</code>, <code>diff</code>, ...</li>
      <li>Ignoring files</li>
      <li>Working on the web: <code>clone</code>, <code>pull</code>, <code>push</code>, ...</li>
      <li>Resolving conflicts</li>
      <li>Open licenses</li>
      <li>Where to host work, and why</li>
      <li><a href="novice/git/">Lesson material</a></li>
      <li><a href="novice/ref/02-git.html">Reference...</a></li>
      <li>If you finish the material before the rest of the group, try reading about:</li>
      <ul>
          <li><a href="intermediate/git/01-conversational-git.html">Conversational Git</a></li>
          <li><a href="intermediate/git/02-relational-structure.html">Relational Structure in Git</a></li>
      </ul>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

<hr/>

<h2>Setup</h2>

<p>
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 <a href="setup.html">Setup page</a> <strong>before</strong> the bootcamp. That way, if you run into any problems, you will be able to ask the helpers or instructors for advice.
</p>