Learning Outcomes

Version Control Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Understand and communicate the benefits of using version control in the research domain
• Understand the workflow of adding, committing and pushing revisions in git
• Work collaboratively with git, both via pull requests and forks
• Describe the utility of branches, and set up projects where work is not solely contained in the master branch
• Use GitHub pages to create simple webpages using git and markdown
• Understand the differences between rebase and merge

Referencing modules: Version Control

Testing Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Understand and communicate the benefits of testing code in the research domain
• Explain the differences between unit, integration, component and regression testing. As well as the need for both positive and negative tests
• Discuss the benefits of using test frameworks
• Design test cases conceptually and implement these tests using PyTest
• Write tests which handle floating point values, to a domain appropriate tolerance level
• Use mocks to abstract remote resources using PyTest
• Use a debugger to identify problems in research code

Referencing modules: Testing your Code

Software Projects Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Understand and communicate the benefits of libraries to a research programmer
• Evaluate the quality of third-party libraries
• Install python packages using pip, conda and other sources
• Organise python code into a structured package
• Use argparse to handle command line arguments to executable scripts
• Understand and communicate the value of documentation and use appropriate tools to create documentation
• Discuss the pros and cons of different software design and development methodologies
• Understand software licenses, including how to select an appropriate language for a given project

Referencing modules: Software Projects

Construction and Design Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Understand and communicate the difference between software design and construction
• Understand the benefits of coding conventions and the importance of structured code for reproducible research
• Refactor code systematically, employing Object Orientated design principles
• Understand and apply common software design patterns in the research context
• Understand and discuss the use of polymorphism and inheritance in Object Orientated software design

Referencing modules: Construction and Design

Advanced Programming Techniques Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Understand functional programming techniques, and how to apply them to write clear, concise research software
• Understand how iterators and generators can be used to handle large datasets
• Understand the use of exceptions in Python and how to design software using exceptions
• Apply metaprogramming techniques to reduce repetition in code
• Understand the limits of metaprogramming

Referencing modules: Advanced Programming Techniques

Programming for Speed Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Understand and communicate the challenges and benefits of optimising research code
• Use numpy to optimise code
• Use cython to optimise code
• Understand the impact on performance differing data structures can have, and explain these impacts using scaling laws

Referencing modules: Programming for Speed