Benefits Of Programming/coding Skills

[purplemermaid]

Hi everyone, 

 

I was wondering what benefits there were for having  programming/coding skills? What sort of competitive advantage would it give you when PI's are deciding on potential undergrads to hire to join their research lab? I've heard that knowing how to program/code are great skills to have, but was wondering about how it can specifically be beneficial? Also, I've started learning Python because I heard that's one of the common ones researchers use, but if anyone could shed some light on this topic, that'd be great, thanks! 

[Liz30]

You may want to look at R if you're interested in working with big data. There's a Data Specialization Track on Coursera and the people running it released the book R programming for Data Science. CodeSchool also offers an R course to get started, but I don't think it's focussed on medical data. That said, CodeSchool is a fun way to learn.

[premedar]

In my opinion, it certainly is beneficial if you know how to program. When I started my Biology undergrad both of my research positions (one paid, one volunteering) asked me to code! I had a relatively strong programming background, but didn't know much about MATLAB programming - which was what they were interested in - but it didn't take me long to learn the language since I had the general knowledge. Long story short, you know best how to prioritize your time, it is good to know how to code, but how would you have spent your time if you weren't learning Python is the real question. 

[qszwdxefc]

Very beneficial, at my current position I was automatically hired because I was the only person who applied (no one else on the mailing list knew programming AND had an interest in biology)

[purplemermaid]

Okay, so top 3 (not in any specific order), I think best to learn is R programming, Python and MatLab. Any ideas on how to get started? (and particularly learn for free online/books from library)

[qszwdxefc]

Personally I don't recommend starting with R. Start with something that is more oriented towards whatever operating system you have (one of the Visual Studio languages for Windows and XCode for Mac) and you'll notice that most languages are pretty similar. Sure these don't help as much as R for lab purposes but it may be extremely BORING to learn. With Visual Studio/XCode you can make random things and it's actually quite fun. I'm fluent in both Visual Studio and XCode; MatLab and Perl took me about a day each to learn.

[purplemermaid]

Alright sounds like a good plan, I'll get started with that. And I have an interview on Wednesday for a research position (work study) and was hoping to say that I have some programming/coding would help distinguish me from other potential applicants. I have started learning Python on Codeacademy, and can probably finish most of it by the interview. Any advice on this approach? And how do you think I should phrase it so that it sounds like I'd be a useful asset, even though I just began programming. 

[Liz30]

If you've started with python, then stick to that and learn how to apply object oriented programming (OOP) given its syntax. Once you learn OOP, you'll find you can apply it to other languages easily. 

 

Oh - and also, the best way to learn to program is to have a set goal in mind for a project and then work to try to figure out how to make it happen. Tutorials only get you so far. 

[purplemermaid]

Is there any project that you can suggest I work towards? 

[Liz30]

Depends on what you're trying to learn. What are your goals, basic programming knowledge or having a skill set more suitable for data processing?

[purplemermaid]

I'm trying to learn both right now, if possible. 

[Liz30]

Data:

This is free and will get you introduced to some basic data processing using R https://www.codeschool.com/courses/try-r  I don't recommend it as a place to learn how to code.

However, you may want to read this article first which goes through the pros and cons of R vs Python for data science.

 

Project Ideas:

**DELETED** has a great list of beginner project ideas for python http://www.**DELETED**.com/r/beginnerprojects 

 

Resources:

stackoverflow.com will be your new best friend when hunting down how to do something or another.

 

Python OOP  a good article that runs through classical object oriented programming

 

 

 

I'd say try to build some of the smaller projects ideas that seem doable to feel more comfortable and then move onto trying to do the data science stuff. 

[purplemermaid]

Awesome, I'll look into those, thanks! 

[Liz30]

PS you'll know you're doing it right if you find yourself super frustrated and questioning why you ever wanted to try programming... but then still sticking to it until it works.

[purplemermaid]

LOL seems very rewarding! Btw I have an interview on Wednesday for a research position and wanted to say something about how I have some programming skills (technically I've already started a bit with Python on codeacademy), and I can probably can get through a lot in the next few days considering I have a lot of free time right now. 

 

So how do you think I can bring this up, and sound like I know what I'm talking about, if possible? 

[Liz30]

I don't like to oversell anything in interviews. That said, show you have enough interest and passion for the position that you took it upon yourself to take the codeacademy course. By no means can you lay claim to really knowing how to program quite yet, but you can tell them "Hey, I really want to work here and I've even been taking this course to brush up on programming skills because I think they'll come in handy". Whatever you think works for you.

[purplemermaid]

True, I see what you mean. Do you have any thoughts about questions I can ask my PI tomorrow at the end of the interview? 

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[purplemermaid]

Hmm I'll give it a try this summer! 

[Dr. Octavius]

Hey guys, as a newbie to coding here and based on what has been mentioned above, would recommend not learning java (at least until one has a solid understanding of python) with respect to being marketable for those laboratory positions?

 

Also, is it worth it to spend some time familiarizing myself with LaTeX?

 

Thanks. 

[qszwdxefc]

Hey guys, as a newbie to coding here and based on what has been mentioned above, would recommend not learning java (at least until one has a solid understanding of python) with respect to being marketable for those laboratory positions?

 

Also, is it worth it to spend some time familiarizing myself with LaTeX?

 

Thanks. 

 

IMO it doesn't matter what language you know to market yourself, learn what interests you and everything will seem pretty similar. I wouldn't bother with LaTeX unless you specifically need it.

[Depression]

It is both a great skills to have and it's very useful as well! I recently had a genetics project in mind that I'd like to do over this academic year but realised in order to do it, I'd need to learn to code databases. So, I'm with ya. Gotta learn it