Before you start

Before you do any computational work in the lab, it's best that you have some basic training. This is akin to having safety training to work in the wet lab---it keeps you safe and makes work easier and more reproducible for yourself and others. Other lab members and collaborators will need your data, and often may need your code, so it's important to keep things organized and Please go through the outlined steps below. Taking an afternoon or a day to familiarize yourself with the Unix environment and the servers can save you a lot of time and headaches in the future.

1. Familiarize yourself with Unix and coding best practices

The absolute first thing you should do is to familiarize yourself with the Unix environment. This tutorial will take you through the basics of working in Unix on the command line. If you're already comfortable working on the command line, it may still be useful to quickly skim these documents---you can always learn something new! Read this short paper on best practices in computational biology, as well. It covers the major points for what we want to get out of our code.

2. Refer to guidelines and tips for the servers

Guidelines: https://github.com/SIWLab/Lab_Info/wiki/Using-the-servers Tips: https://github.com/SIWLab/Lab_Info/wiki/Server-tricks-to-make-your-life-easier

3. Ask questions if you have them!

No one should work in isolation. Chances are, someone else has encountered the same problem as you, or can help. Always feel free to drop by someone's office, send an email or slack message, or use our time in lab meetings to pick everyone's brains. Just remember to be respectful of other lab members' time; we try to be helpful and inclusive, but sometimes folks are too busy, so be sure to ask if someone has a minute to help first.

4. Back up your data!

This also applies to lab-owned desktop computers. When you leave the lab and no longer need the computer make sure to backup and clear off the contents of your account, especially personal information. It is super helpful to create a new password and put it on a sticky note next to the machine, or reset the computer if you are able. Whoever inherits the machine will thank you!

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