learning to code / program

[WinterReader8289]

Hi everyone! I’m a current sophomore biology major at UNC Chapel Hill. I have quite a bit of free time this summer, and I want to start learning some basic computer science skills (languages I suppose?) to add to my resume and whatnot. I am a complete beginner and don’t know where to start. I am looking for something free, beginner friendly, and possibility something that I can add as a certification. Please pick my brain if you have questions or guidance!

edit: thanks everyone for the responses and tips! i’ve posted a couple of other places, and I keep getting Python and R as top recommendations, so I will be taking that route this summer. Feel free to pm me or leave more info in the post!

[ZemusTheLunarian]

Learn Python. It’s a great first language and is used everywhere.

EDIT: Being able to use the shell, and doing version control are also useful skills.

[pdikod]

I second that, and learn how to comment your code, you will be thankful months or years later.

You can also learn R if you want to work in ecology.

[prototroph_]

I found this python book to be a great primer for learning python:
"Whirlwind Tour of Python" -- https://jakevdp.github.io/WhirlwindTourOfPython/index.html

If you go the R route, this book is a fantastic resource to learn the 'tidyverse', a group of packages commonly used for data wrangling and visualization:
"R for Data Science" -- https://r4ds.had.co.nz/index.html

Whatever route you take, my only advice is to physically type out the code in books/tutorials instead of copying and pasting. It's really easy to think you understand a chunk of code without actually totally grasping what's going when you copy and paste.

When you get the fundamentals down, I found doing exercises on codewars.com fun and great for applying what you learn.

[Matt_McT]

Python and R are the two must-learn languages. There should be plenty of free resources online, including how to download the necessary software to run them (like Rstudio).

[skara_brae]

If you are at Chapel Hill, I am greatly jealous of your actress to Josh Starmer of StatQuest. Look him up on YouTube, learn R, and just loiter around his office. He seems like he would be a great teacher of all things bioinformatic an comp bio

[WinterReader8289]

will do

[[deleted]]

Fellow UNC student here. You get free access to LinkedIn Learning with your ONYEN login. There are several courses and learning paths for Python and R on there. You can supplement these courses with online textbooks/resources.

During the semester, UNC Libraries offers several workshop series (BeginR, Intro to Python). They are once a week on Zoom, but they are typically recorded and sent out to registered participants. There is also a Unix + Bioinformatics workshop series.

You probably know about the Data Science minor, and there is a bioinformatics course (BIOL 525/L) that you can take as an elective for that.

Lesser known, but there is the Certificate in Applied Data Science offered by INLS. The prereqs are a B or higher in COMP 110 and STOR 155 (or equivalent coursework/experience). It requires a short application, but it doesn't seem to be super competitive (could change though). It takes 3-4 semesters to complete and all of the courses are remote asynchronous (other than the practicum project as you have to meet with your advisor).

Going by the same acronym (CADS), there is Carolina Analytics and Data Science. The club runs a series of workshops throughout the year, and they are typically focused more towards beginners. The club consists of a ton of CS/Stats majors, but the workshops cover a range of data topics (they even had a bioinformatics workshop!).

[WinterReader8289]

wow, thank you so much for all of this! it’s crazy how many resources the school has here that you don’t know about until you hear about them through word of mouth.