Events / Technical Workshop: Version Control in Science

Technical Workshop: Version Control in Science

May 8, 2019
1:30 PM - 5:15 PM

RSVPs are requested for this event. To attend, please send your response to: adrian.radillo@gmail.com.

 

Coding is a necessary activity of contemporary labs. In the last decade or so, modern version control systems (such as git) and online code sharing platforms (such as GitHub) have profoundly changed coding practices.

 

These technologies were designed to:

  • Track changes in code
  • Easily revert to previous points in the code’s development
  • Share code collaboratively, while avoiding conflicts

 

Leveraging these tools in your science lab will enable you to:

  • Comply with the submission guidelines of an increasing number of high-ranked journals (see Nature and Science, for instance)
  • Be more transparent about your analysis methods, and thereby guard yourself against scientific fraud accusations.
  • Increase the reproducibility of your results
  • Drastically diminish the time it takes to hand off a project or add a new member to the project team
  • Use tools developed by others

 

Everyone (PIs, students, post-docs, and technicians) is welcome to attend. Anyone who cannot attend the full workshop, but still wants to get an overview of the usefulness of these tools, is encouraged to attend the first 45 minutes of the workshop.

 

Workshop schedule:

 

1:30pm – 2:15pm: “Version control in a science lab: Why and how”
General session, justifying usefulness of versioning in science; Guidance and pointers for lab setup; Q&A

 

2:15pm – 2:30pm: break 

 

2:30pm – 3:15pm: Parallel Sessions: Hands-on Tutorials
For beginners: Setting up your GitHub account; Basics of tracking changes and collaborations
For intermediates: Common mistakes/Best practices; Becoming fluent with a branching workflow and avoiding merge conflicts

 

3:15pm – 3:30pm: break 

 

3:30pm – 4:15pm: Hands-on Tutorials Part II

 

4:15pm – 4:30pm: break

 

4:30pm – 5:15pm: “Towards more efficient, collaborative science”
Illustration of various use cases that are relevant to scientists
Open discussion regarding remaining challenges

 

RSVPs are requested for this event. To attend, please send your response to: adrian.radillo@gmail.com.