Open source project in order to learn coding.
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9.9 years ago
Vuvuu • 0

At the begging I will tell that I am first year undergrad in bioinformatics. My programming skills are not satisfying me. I do some basic programs in C at uni. In past I did some codecademy/khanacademy etc. also took some android class. I get some general ideas, yet I don't see fun in doing exercises from books/manuals. That's why I want to join some project to do something real. I don't think of doing it by myself. Just hoping someone needs a pair of hand to do some basic stuff too boring/monotone for people who are not beginners in programming anymore. I wish to learn. I think of spending this Summer doing so. I would want to join a project somehow connected to my future plans. Yet I don't know will they accept a novice and also where to find a project. My interest and future plans are in synthetic biology and/or gerontology. I checked SENS Foundation website, yet I am not sure do I qualify as a total beginner. Do you know any projects at least somehow connected to my interests that accept beginners?

open-source • 2.9k views
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search for a bioinformatics project on github.com, fork-it, modify it, send a pull request.

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C is a pretty nasty programming language. Powerful but not for beginners. You should start with something easier like Perl, R, PHP, Ruby, hell even VB....

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Thank you guys for responses ;D @BioApps C is obligatory at my university in past I did some courses with something easier like Python. I have hopes for finding something in bio-python ;D @Pierre Thanks I will try that. @Istvan, you may be right, I just thought that in that case I would have a supervisor/mentor, yet starting something myself may be better and it can allow me to connect it to my interests. Thank you all guys

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If C is mandatory then at least find a nice IDE, debugger, etc to help you with the development.

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9.9 years ago

Joining an existing project is not a good way to learn anything. Mature projects accrue a lot of complexities generated by unexpected changes in specification. Thus the code is usually loaded with difficult to understand constructs that are not explained.

Start your own project(s) instead and try to build something simple that is still useful. What is important to finish the project, bring it to some closure then start another one. Keep doing that.

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Really good advice.

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