Introduction to Scientific Computing course

This repository holds teaching materials for the NCAS Introduction to Scientific Computing course.

Overview

The course covers:

• Introduction to the Linux shell
  • Presentations
  • Exercises
• Git and GitHub
  • Presentation
  • Exercise
• Introduction to Python
  • Python Introduction Slides
  • Exercises - Jupyter Notebooks | Solutions
• Data manipulation and visualisation in Python (Working with Data)
  • Python working with data Slides
  • Exercises - Jupyter Notebooks | Solutions
• Example code for all python modules
  • Example code
  • Example data

Index

Overview Presentations

• Algorithmic thinking
  • Exercise
  • Worksheet
• NCAS, CMS, CEDA and JASMIN overview
• Parallel processing of large datasets
• Why good data curation is essential to doing good science

The Linux Shell

1. Text editors and terminals
2. Introduction
3. Pipes and Filters
4. Permissions
5. Finding things
6. Job control
7. Summary so far
8. Shell scripting
9. The secure shell
10. More tricks

• Exercises and solutions

Git and GitHub

1. Introduction to Git

• Exercise and solutions

Introduction to Python

1. Introduction
2. Basics
3. Boolean types
4. Scripts
5. Control flow
6. and, or and not
7. Lists
8. Slicing
9. List comprehensions
10. Tuples
11. Input and Output
12. Strings
13. Aliasing
14. Functions
15. More on functions
16. Libraries
17. Combining scripts and modules
18. Sets
19. Dictionaries
20. Errors and Exceptions
21. Logging and Debugging
22. Object Oriented Programming
23. Summary & where next?

• Exercises and Solutions

Python - Working with Data

Handling arrays

• Numpy
• Exercises and Solutions

Visualisation

• Matplotlib and cartopy
• Exercises and Solutions

Read and Write data

1. Data formats and metadata - why?
2. Text formats
3. Some more common text formats (at CEDA)
4. Binary formats
5. Overview of NetCDF
6. The structure of "Classic" NetCDF files
7. ncgen and ncdump to create/export NetCDF and CDL
8. The CF Metadata Conventions (for NetCDF)
9. Checking CF-compliance: cf-checker
10. Reading NetCDF files with Python: netCDF4
11. Creating NetCDF files with Python
12. Reading and writing other formats
13. Viewing NetCDF: Ncview and ncBrowse

• Exercises and Solutions
• Weather API Exercise and Solution

Useful materials and resources

See the Resources page for links to useful related sites and materials.

Information

Want to re-use these materials?

Feel free to fork this repository on GitHub and re-use these materials however you like.

Acknowledgements

The foundations of our course are based on the superb materials provided by Software Carpentry who we are eternally grateful to.