Course Description

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Sessions Tuesdays and Thursdays: 6-8:30PM EDT
Office Hours Fridays: 6:00-8:00 PM EDT

Overview
In this introductory workshop, users will learn the basics of the open-source programming language called Python. This course will introduce you to Python’s built-in types, common functionality like looping and indexing, as well as some widely used packages like Numpy and Pandas. This course will also introduce users to Python for scientific applications and provide a brief overview of plotting, working with arrays, and parsing tabular data. Note: this beginner’s course may be too rudimentary for scientists already comfortable with other programming languages such as R or Matlab. The workshop will include six sessions of instruction and three days of virtual office hours with the instructor over the course of three weeks.

The workshop will guide learners through the following topics:

Session 1:

• Introduction to Jupyter Notebooks
• Introduction to the Python ecosystem (pip, packages, PyPI, and more)
• Basic Python types and operations
• Collections

Session 2:

• Defining functions
• Defining classes (your own data types)
• Class inheritance
• Documenting your functions and classes

Session 3:

• Handling exceptions
• Introduction to the Python standard library
• Opening and writing files

Session 4:

• Plotting with matplotlib
• Intro to other plotting libraries including Plotly and Seaborn
• Introduction to Numpy

Session 5:

• Deeper dive into Numpy
• Introduction to Pandas

Session 6:

• Bring your own data!
• Load, process, and visualize your own data (or use data provided).
• Instructor will work with you to identify tools or libraries to help get you started.

Virtual office hours will be held Fridays 6-8 PM ET.

Prerequisites
Basic computer skills, including how to navigate your file system from the command line.

Computer Needs
macOS, Windows, Linux

Pre-course
We assume that you do not already have python installed and that you have never used Jupyter Notebooks before. Notebooks are going to be our primary IDE and as such some preparation is required before the first course session. Instructions will be given prior to the workshop to install.

Credit
Although no grades are given for courses, each participant will receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) based on the number of contact hours. One CEU is equal to ten contact hours. Upon completion of this course each participant will receive a certificate, showing completion of the workshop and 2.1 CEUs.

This workshop applies toward the Bioinformatics Endeavor digital badge.

Refund Policy
Follow the link to review Workshop Refund Policy.

Notification

• All cancellations must be received in writing via email to registrar@faes.org.
• Cancellations received after 4:00 pm (ET) on business days or received on non-business days are time marked for the following business day.
• All refund payments will be processed by the start of the initial workshop.