Intermediate Python for Astronomical Software Development

This course aims to teach a core set of established, intermediate-level software development skills and best practices for working as part of a team in a research environment using Python as an example programming language (see detailed learning objectives below). The core set of skills we teach is not a comprehensive set of all-encompassing skills, but a selective set of tried-and-tested collaborative development skills that forms a firm foundation for continuing on your learning journey.

A typical learner for this course may be someone who is working in a research environment, needing to write some code, has gained basic software development skills either by self-learning or attending, e.g., a novice Software Carpentry Python course. They have been applying those skills in their domain of work by writing code for some time, e.g. half a year or more. However, their software development-related projects are now becoming larger and are involving more researchers and other stakeholders (e.g. users), for example:

• Software is becoming more complex and more collaborative development effort is needed to keep the software running
• Software is going further than just the small group developing and/or using the code - there are more users and an increasing need to add new features
• ‘Technical debt’ is increasing with demands to add new functionality while ensuring previous development efforts remain functional and maintainable

They now need intermediate software engineering skills to help them design more robust software code that goes beyond a few thrown-together proof-of-concept scripts, taking into consideration the lifecycle of software, writing software for stakeholders, team ethic and applying a process to understanding, designing, building, releasing, and maintaining software.

Target Audience

This course is for you if:

• You have been writing software for a while, which may be used by people other than yourself, but it is currently undocumented or unstructured
• You want to learn:
  • more intermediate software engineering techniques and tools
  • how to collaborate with others to develop software
  • how to prepare software for others to use
• You are currently comfortable with:
  • basic Python programming (though this may not be the main language you use) and applying it to your work on a regular basis
  • basic version control using Git
  • command line interface (shell)

This course is not for you if:

• You have not yet started writing software (in which case have a look at the Software Carpentry course or some other Python course for novices first)
• You have learned the basics of writing software but have not applied that knowledge yet (or are unsure how to apply it) to your work. In this case, we suggest you revisit the course after you have been programming for at least 6 months
• You are well familiar with the learning objectives of the course and those of individual episodes
• The software you write is fully documented and well architected

Prerequisites

To attend this course you should meet the following criteria. You can also test your prerequisite knowledge by taking this short quiz.

Git

• You are familiar with the concept of version control
• You have experience configuring Git for the first time and creating a local repository
• You have experience using Git to create and clone a repository and add/commit changes to it and to push to/pull from a remote repository
• Optionally, you have experience comparing various versions of tracked files or ignoring specific files

Python

• You have a basic knowledge of programming in Python (using variables, lists, conditional statements, functions and importing external libraries)
• You have previously written Python scripts or iPython/Jupyter notebooks to accomplish tasks in your domain of work

Shell

• You have experience using a command line interface, such as Bash, to navigate a UNIX-style file system and run commands with arguments
• Optionally, you have experience redirecting inputs and outputs from a command

Learning Objectives for the Workshop

• Set up and use a suitable development environment together with popular source code management infrastructure to develop software collaboratively
• Use a test framework to automate the verification of correct behaviour of code, and employ parameterisation and continuous integration to scale and further automate your testing
• Design robust, extensible software through the application of suitable programming paradigms and design techniques
• Understand the code review process and employ it to improve the quality of code
• Prepare and release your software for reuse by others
• Manage software improvement from feedback through agile techniques

Setup

Please make sure that you have all the necessary software and accounts setup ahead of the workshop as described in the Setup section. Also check the list of common issues, fixes & tips if you experience any problems running any of the tools you installed - your issue may be solved there.