Software Carpentry helped me to explore the ways in which I improve and maintain my code. This made it easier for me to look back upon my old work and adapt it for new purposes, thereby making my research progress more quickly. It has also let me ask types of questions that I previously had no ability to address.
– Minyoung Wyman studies the evolution of male and female differences using fruit flies as a model organism

As a self-taught programmer, Software Carpentry gave me the tools to plan better code before even picking up a keyboard—improving my ability to expand, re-use, and test what I develop. The result is a more reliable, better traceable product, and I have a better sense of what to look for when evaluating other tools.
– Deanna Langer’s PhD explored multi-parametric MRI for prostate cancer localization

Armed with a single introductory C++ course, I did a master’s degree and several years of consulting work on spatial simulation models before taking Software Carpentry. Long, slow, frustrating experience left me well prepared to appreciate this course. What has changed? I work more quickly…and re-use my own code; I find more errors, and spend less time fixing them; I trust my results more; I don’t mind revisiting and revising old work; collaborators and potential employers are more impressed; and I’m happier.
– Josie Hughes develops models of mountain pine beetles and other outbreaking forest insects

I depend on the techniques taught in this course to maintain reliable programs, scripts and data organization. The time management, revision control, debugging and testing strategies are absolutely essential to build and maintain my projects. The basic Unix, shell, and scripting skills save me significant time and effort every day. It’s an invaluable resource for computational researchers.
– Anita Oder is helping develop a set of optimal experimental planning and analysis tools for neuroimaging research

While doing Software Carpentry, I made significant changes to the program I was using in my research. I felt like I was finally in control of its behavior, not vice versa. I still refer Software Carpentry to anyone new to programming, best practices, or even Python, especially if I have to work with that person.
– Elango Cheran’s MSc thesis was on detecting structural variants from paired-end sequencing data

Like most psychology students, I got no formal training in computational methods during my undergrad or graduate program. This meant that I was effectively cut off from the tool I was using and pessimistic about my chances of ever mastering it. Software Carpentry demystified programming for me and also gave me a solid background in software development practices. I now use tools that I never would have considered before taking the course, and have even accepted a postdoc in a computation-heavy lab, which would have been out of the question. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to take this course earlier in my degree!
– Hanah Chapman studies the evolutionary psychology and cognitive neuroscience of human emotion

Deadline after deadline: research life is as simple as that. As a consequence, research software is too often written in a rush. How many of you have faced that little, tricky, hidden bug a few days before submission? If you did, you also know that feeling of mistrust of your code. Software Carpentry showed me how easy and rewarding it is to write code that is testable from very early stages: write a little function, and immediately check whether simple examples yield the results you expect. And while Subversion repositories are not so easy to set up, once they are working, it’s like having a perfect lab assistant to tell you what is going on at any time.
- Enzo De Sena builds physical and acoustic models of surround sound