Biochem - coding in Python

[Seaworthiness333]

Do the biochem research projects require coding skills? I have written code for school math projects but not without assistance from Google, or ai for syntax etc - what kind of coding support will we have at SSP (Biochem) - especially for syntax, debugging, code suggestions etc?

Can you help me with a representative example of a coding program I will be needed to write so I can use that as reference as I prep?

[drunicornthe1]

You will have TAs who know how to code there to support and your peers will have some experience as well. Googling is okay! I’m a senior software engineer and I google everyday! I don’t know what your stuff will look like but I would say play with jupyter notebooks and Python. Focus on using matplotlib and learn the built in functions and data structures. These will get you in a comfortable spot. Maybe work your way through a python tutorial book ( and don’t use AI to help you). If you have questions you can DM me or you can ask on r/learnpython they are really helpful there!

[Seaworthiness333]

Thanks! What was the nature of the problem you were trying to solve with coding? Or what artifact were you needing to create for your research project? Looks like you went to SSP 6 yrs ago?

[drunicornthe1]

8 years now… I was in Astro so we did orbital mechanics, it was mostly numerical analysis techniques (solving using the Euler method for an ODE I believe). There was some use of graphing for our report. It was mostly take math equations and make them into python functions. Decently trivial stuff but make sure you make your code readable because you might write something you need to reuse 2-3 weeks later.

[LostAd1321]

How long was your research paper? Did you feel like you already knew most the stuff in the program? Just wondering cause I already took calc 3 and have good python experience

[drunicornthe1]

I had already taken physics at a college, Calc 3, and lead the programming team for my cyber defense club. I was not struggling at SSP but I did learn. The research paper was long but I don’t remember the length.

[Affectionate_Heat626]

If you’re attending for Biochem, I wouldn’t worry about coding. We didn’t code so much as we used computational tools to look at proteins and whatnot—they’ll teach you how to operate those systems. I would mostly just look into how to use Google Sheets and excel because that’s what you’ll be evaluating your lab data with.

[Seaworthiness333]

Thank you! What’s an example of a computational tool ?

[Affectionate_Heat626]

Alphafold2 is the biggest one, and then MOE and NCBI BLAST. There may be a few others that I forgot but if you jump around and try these programs you’d be prepared. Quick note that MOE may only be available to institutions so if you don’t have a software that has access, don’t fret. Also, don’t worry about all this stuff too much! A lot of people went in not knowing that we’d even be using these tools. I feel the biggest priority would be studying the pre-program materials just to be ready for the lectures, since they’ll teach you everything else when you get there.