“Should I switch to Python?”
on Nov 17, 2009 in Case studies/examples Choosing a programming language Rich has recently been considering switching to the Python programming language.  Currently, Matlab is the language of choice in his department for rapid development and prototyping of code.  It’s very good at this, but Mathworks (the company...

Writing code for a big scientific collaboration
on Oct 26, 2009 in The Scientist-Programmer collaboration programming scientist-programmer One of the striking thing about scientific software is the range of different contexts in which it’s needed.  Scientists need quick-and-dirty scripts to process their data and plot their results; they need prototypes so that they can experimen...

The ‘programming for scientists’ link montage
on Oct 13, 2009 in Uncategorized Image via Wikipedia Continuing our theme of gathering together useful stuff for the scientists-programmer we present a list of interesting, useful, informative and possibly fun links. Enjoy! CodeKata Musicians practice, sportsmen practice, ninjas...

The ‘Programming for Scientists’ training montage
on Sep 29, 2009 in Craft of coding The Scientist-Programmer scientist-programmer self-improvement As any attentive movie-goer knows, self-improvement can be a great way for the hero to overcome the obstacles in their path and generally do great stuff.  As it is with Rocky Balboa, so it is with programmers, and particularly with Scientist-Program...

The ‘Programming for Scientists’ software project primer
on Sep 2, 2009 in Craft of coding The basics of... programming primer scientist scientist-programmer The purpose of this blog is to help scientists program more effectively and efficiently, so they can get more science done.  For those of you who’d like to be systematic in your learning, we present the prog4sci software project primer!  Choo...

The ‘Programming for Scientists’ software project primer
on Sep 2, 2009 in Craft of coding The basics of... programming primer scientist scientist-programmer The purpose of this blog is to help scientists program more effectively and efficiently, so they can get more science done.  For those of you who’d like to be systematic in your learning, we present the prog4sci software project primer!  Choo...

How to explain programming to your Mum
on Aug 18, 2009 in Craft of coding The Scientist-Programmer explaining explanation how to programming This article will hopefully be helpful for those times when you have to explain to your mum/dad/girlfriend/person on the bus what it is you do all day. I can't help you explain the intricacies of your particular scientific field but I can help explai...

How to explain programming to your Mum
on Aug 18, 2009 in Craft of coding The Scientist-Programmer explaining explanation how to programming This article will hopefully be helpful for those times when you have to explain to your mum/dad/girlfriend/person on the bus what it is you do all day. I can't help you explain the intricacies of your particular scientific field but I can help explai...

Building scientific tools that are actually useful
on Aug 4, 2009 in Craft of coding tools programming science software tools Lots of scientists write bits of software to get things done.  Sometimes they offer to give someone else (a collaborator, student, postdoc etc) a copy of some of their code, to help that person out.  Sometimes a given piece of code is useful enough...

Building scientific tools that are actually useful
on Aug 4, 2009 in Craft of coding tools programming science software tools Lots of scientists write bits of software to get things done.  Sometimes they offer to give someone else (a collaborator, student, postdoc etc) a copy of some of their code, to help that person out.  Sometimes a given piece of code is useful enough...