Overview
This 4-day workshop will cover some of the common tools used in open source development. It is targeted at novice users. The workshop will be broken into two parts:
- Computing basics (days 1 & 2) – Topics covered: basic terminal usage, UNIX, git and GitHub, bash environments, package managers, ssh.
- Intro to Python (days 3 & 4) – Topics covered: variables, control flow, function, loops, numpy/scipy/matplotlib.
The format will be a mixture of lectures and labs. Each day will consist of a morning and afternoon session, each lasting approx. two hours. See below for a more detailed schedule. The workshop will be in-person only. Workshop materials will be made available online afterward.
Please register if you would like to attend. There is no fee.
🗓️ Dates
Part 1 (Computing basics): Monday, August 12 & Tuesday, August 13
Part 2 (Python): Wednesday August 14 & Thursday August 15
🎯 Location
Bird Library Room 114 (Peter Graham Scholarly Commons)
The Peter Graham Scholarly Commons is on the 1st floor of Bird Library, near the university entrance (floor map).
📋 Registration
Registration is now closed, as we are at capacity. If you would like to be put on a waiting list, please fill out the registration from here: Registration Form. We will notify you if we have an opening.
If you would like to be notified of future workshops and other events hosted by the OSPO, subscribe to the OSPO listserv by sending an email to listserv@listserv.syr.edu. Put in the message “subscribe OSPO <Your name>” where <Your name> is your name. For more information on subscribing to lists, see the instructions here.
Registration is open to all Syracuse University students, staff, and faculty. There is no fee, but space is limited, so sign up soon.
💻 Prerequisites
The workshop will be cross-disciplinary and no prior programming experience is needed. You will need to bring your own computer. Mac or Linux machines are preferred, but Windows is fine too.
⏲ Schedule
The workshop will start at 10:00AM each day. We will also be available 9:00 – 10:00AM on Monday and Wednesday to help people setup their computers for the workshop. The setup session is especially recommended for Windows users.
| Day | Time | Topics covered (subject to change) | |
| Mon. Aug 12 | 9:00AM - 10:00AM | Setup computers (recommended for Windows users) | |
| Mon. Aug. 12 | 10:00AM – 12:00PM | Part I, Computing Basics | Introduction to bash; vim; scripting |
| Mon. Aug. 12 | 1:30PM - 3:30PM | More bash; environments; conda | |
| Tues. Aug. 13 | 10:00AM - 12:00PM | ssh and computer clusters | |
| Tues. Aug. 13 | 1:30PM - 3:30PM | git and GitHub | |
| Wed. Aug 14 | 9:00AM - 10:00AM | Setup computers (recommended for Windows users) | |
| Wed. Aug. 14 | 10:00AM - 12:00PM | Part II, Intro. to Python | Python: variables, assignments, types, operations, containers |
| Wed. Aug. 14 | 1:30PM - 3:30PM | Python: control-flow (if/else); intro to functions | |
| Thurs. Aug. 15 | 10:00AM - 12:00PM | Python: for/while loops; functions (con’t) | |
| Thurs. Aug. 15 | 1:30PM - 3:30PM | Python: libraries; numpy/scipy/matplotlib | |
📖 Workshop materials
Examples, exercises, and lecture recordings:
- Day 1 GitHub repository
- Session 1 recording (Introduction to bash; vim; scripting)
- Session 2 recording (More bash; environments; conda)
- Day 2 GitHub repository
- Session 1 recording (ssh)
- Session 2 recording (git and GitHub)
- Days 3 and 4 GitHub repository