Software Carpentry in Two Minutes

Hello, and welcome to Software Carpentry.

Our Mission

We make scientists and engineering more productive by teaching them basic computing skills.

Our goal is to make scientists and engineers more productive by teaching them fundamental computational skills.

The Problem

Surveyed 1972 scientists in 2008.
"How do you use computers?"
"How did you learn what you know?"

Let's start with a few facts. In 2008, almost 2000 scientists responded to an online survey that we organized. We asked them, "How do you use computers?" And, "How did you learn what you know?"

The Problem

Scientists spend 40% of their time building or using software.
55% say this figure is rising.
96% are mostly self-taught.

They told us that on average they spend about 40% of their time building or using software. 53% told us that this number is going up. And an astonishing 96% told us that they are mostly self-taught.

The Problem

No hard data on how well they do things.
But anecdotal evidence suggests "not very".

We weren't able to get any data on how productive or effective they are. But the evidence we do have suggests that everything seems to take longer and hurt more than it should.

Our Solution

Intensive hands-on training.
Two full days of instruction.

the Unix shell
Git and GitHub
Python or R
SQL

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automate repetitive tasks
track and share work
build modular code
manage data

Software Carpentry is the solution. We run intensive two-day classes that give scientists and engineers those fundamental skills as part of the Mozilla Science Lab. Two full days covers the basics of the Unix shell, version control with Git, programming in Python or R, and using SQL. What we're really showing them though, is how to automate repetitive tasks, how to track and share their work, how to grow a program in a modular, testable, reusable way, and the difference between structured and unstructured data.

Outcomes

20% improvement in productivity is common.
10X isn't rare.

We can often save people 20% of their time - a day a week - and it's not unusual for attendees to report a tenfold savings.

Outcomes

Empowers people.
HPC, the cloud, web services, big data, ...
Reproducible research, open science, ...

We also give people the technical skills they need to make use of high-performance computing, the cloud, and other new possibilities, and to play an active role in changing the way science itself is done.

The Details

Materials are all open access.
Instructors are volunteers.
Only cost is travel and accommodation
(but contributions to central costs are welcome).

Our notes and examples are all freely reusable under open licenses, and our instructors are all volunteers, so the only cost to host sites is travel and accommodation (though we are grateful for contributions to central costs).

Scope

Workshops

Workshops

Enrolment

Enrolment

Increase both numbers 50% in 2014.

We ran almost 100 two-day workshops for over 3500 people in 2013 alone, and hope to increase both numbers by half in 2014.

How To Help

Come and learn.
Join the discussion.
Host a workshop.
Become an instructor.
Create new teaching materials.

There are many ways you can help: take part in a workshop, join our discussions, host a workshop, become an instructor, or help us create new teaching materials.

Learn More

http://software-carpentry.org

admin@software-carpentry.org

Thank you for listening.