Pre-PyCon Python Data Carpentry Workshop
VLSCI
Aug 10-11,2016
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Instructors:
Alistair Walsh, Darya Vanichkina, Talitha Ford, Harriet Dashnow, Andrew Lonsdale
Helpers:
Clare Sloggett
Aug 10-11,2016
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Instructors: Alistair Walsh, Darya Vanichkina, Talitha Ford, Harriet Dashnow, Andrew Lonsdale
Helpers: Clare Sloggett
General Information
Data Carpentry workshops are for any researcher who has data they want to analyze, and no prior computational experience is required. This hands-on workshop teaches basic concepts, skills and tools for working more effectively with data.
We will cover Data organization in spreadsheets, Variables, data types, libraries and lists in Python, Tabular Data, Data analysis and Visualization with Pandas and SQL for data management. Participants should bring their laptops and plan to participate actively. By the end of the workshop learners should be able to more effectively manage and analyze data and be able to apply the tools and approaches directly to their ongoing research.
Who: The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers.
Where: Seminar room at Lab 14, 700 Swanson St, Carlton, VIC 3053. Get directions with OpenStreetMap or Google Maps.
Requirements: Participants must bring a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating sytem (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed below). They are also required to abide by Data Carpentry's Code of Conduct.
Contact: Please mail alistair.walsh@unimelb.edu.au for more information.
Preliminary Schedule
Surveys
Please be sure to complete these surveys before and after the workshop.
Day 1
| Morning | Data organization in spreadsheets |
| Afternoon | Variables, data types, libraries and lists in Python |
Day 2
| Morning | Tabular Data, Data analysis and Visualization with Pandas |
| Afternoon | SQL for data management |
Etherpad: https://public.etherpad-mozilla.org/p/2016-08-10-Pre-Pycon_Data_Carpentry_Workshop.
We will use this Etherpad for chatting, taking notes, and sharing URLs and bits of code.
Syllabus
Data organization in spreadsheets
- Formatting data
- Common formatting problems
- Dates as data
- Quality control
- Exporting data
- Data Format Caveats
- Data cleaning
- Data organization in spreadsheets lesson notes
Programming in Python
- Variables and Assignment
- Data Types and Type Conversion
- Libraries
- Lists and Indexing
- Reading Tabular Data into Pandas Data Frames
- Plotting
- Loops and conditionals
- Writing Functions
- Python lesson materials
Managing Data with SQL
- Reading and sorting data
- Filtering with
where - Calculating new values on the fly
- Handling missing values
- Combining values using aggregation
- Combining information from multiple tables using
join - Creating, modifying, and deleting data
- Programming with databases
- SQL lesson materials
Setup
To participate in a Data Carpentry workshop, you will need working copies of the described software. Please make sure to install everything (or at least to download the installers) before the start of your workshop. Participants should bring and use their own laptops to insure the proper setup of tools for an efficient workflow once you leave the workshop.
Please follow these Setup Instructions.
We maintain a list of common issues that occur during installation as a reference for instructors that may be useful on the Configuration Problems and Solutions wiki page.