A Beginner's Guide to Programming and Data Analysis with R and BASH

Description

This is the first lesson in a two-part workshop series Programming and Data Analysis with R and BASH, which is delivered as part of the NFCDS pedagogdy fellowship program.

Given the increasing amount of data being generated today, programmatic data analysis is an important skill for a wide range of fields. The R programming language and Unix/Linux command line can be powerful tools for analyzing data on their own. More powerfully, the huge variety of R and command line tools can be used together with scripting to create custom pipelines to analyze large or complex data sets.

Outcomes

As a hands-on workshop participants will learn what R and Unix/Linux command line tools are available for processing different types of data sets. This workshop begins with a walkthrough of essential programming and scripting techniques. Also included is an introduction to best practices in both programming and data analysis.

Audience

This workshop is designed for anyone interested in learning more about programming best practices, and how to create R and BASH scripts to automate data analysis. These lessons will help you to learn the fundamental concepts necessary to understand coding, programming, and the basics of the R and BASH programming languages as a beginner.

No prior programming or data analysis experience is required.

Prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable with using a computer and basic statistical methods. Furthermore, participants should have:

limited to no experience with BASH

limited to no experience with R

Each participant needs to have access to a computer with R, RStudio, and Unix/Linux or the Windows Ubuntu app. To get started, follow the directions in the Setup tab.

Since this is an introductory workshop, we will be available 30 minutes prior to the workshop to walkthrough installing the necessary software.

Please complete the pre-workshop survey before getting started with the workshop.

Exit Ticket

Please complete the post-workshop survey after completion of the workshop, and before you leave.

Schedule

	Setup	Download files required for the lesson
00:00	1. Programming Fundamentals	What is the difference between programming and coding? What are algorithms and how are they developed? What is pseudocode and how can it be used? What is the most common forms of logic used in programming?
00:45	2. R Fundamentals	What is the R programming language? How do I write code in the R programming language? What is the utility of RStudio? What are the components and features of R and RStudio? How can I write and run R code in RStudio?
01:30	3. Break	Take a break!
01:40	4. BASH Fundamentals	What is the BASH command language? How do I write code in the BASH command language? What are the components and features of BASH? How can I write and run BASH code?
02:25	5. R & BASH Scripting	Why is scripting useful? How can I write and run R and BASH scripts RStudio and terminal? How can I use scripts to automate my data analysis process? What is the best way to tackle coding errors?
03:25	6. Supplemental - Best Practices	What are the benefits of writing programs? What are the most helpful programming techniques? How can I get started with writing a program? Why is it important to leave notes in my code about what it does?
03:25	7. Supplemental - Language Conventions	Why is it important to consistently format my code? What are some common guidelines for writting R and BASH code?
03:25	Finish

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.