Course Description

In this course, learners will develop and apply key programming skills needed for their success in biomedical research and other fields. The lectures and assignments will be done in Python, one of the most popular and widely used programming languages (https://redmonk.com/sogrady/2022/10/20/language-rankings-6-22/). However, the concepts learned in this course are transferrable to many other programming languages. The assignments will also encourage students to think about scientific applications for programming.

Learner Outcomes

When you complete the course successfully, you will be able to:

• Identify and apply values, operators, and variables in coding problems
• Break down the logic of a problem using conditionals, loops, and functions
• Read an error message and debug code
• Understand and apply Python data structures, such as lists, dictionaries, tuples, sets, strings, etc.
• Write clear documentation for code
• Solve coding problems via the following steps: break down the problem, develop algorithm (pseudocode, decision tree), write actual code, debug code, and document code
• Apply coding skills to real-world problems

Microcredential(s)

This course applies toward the Bioinformatics Endeavor digital badge.