2025-05-15 online workshop feedback / course split? #46

Not sure if this fits rather into an existing "redesign" epic.

Based on my limited experience with python, and even more limited exposure to the course, I got the feeling the scope of the course might be too broad. I can think of a split:

[the numbers in brackets correspond to the current chapters]

Basic Intermediate / Data analysis: What anyone might need to do some data analysis from a local data file on a single script

• [1] Basics Recap -- Skip? We have to make a cut somewhere, and assume that participants come with a minimal background.

• [3] Numpy and Matplotlib

• [7] Pandas

• Topics included in the Python introduction course, but not actually covered in our introductory course? (not sure what currently gets covered)

  • [5]. Defensive Programming?
  • Functions and loops?
  • Command Line programs?

• Others (things we currently assume participants will just pick up along the way)

  • Best practices: how to write a clean script (separating data, parameters, and methods; documentation, etc.)
  • Installing packages (pip)

• [6] Units and Quantities -- leave it as an optional here, because it ties with Numpy?

Advanced Intermediate:

• [2] Dictionaries and JSON data

• [4] Package Management (environments)

• Others, e.g.

  • Other data structures (sets, tuples, dataclasses?)
  • List comprehensions
  • Functions with *args, and **kwargs, be aware that some objects are passed by reference
  • Relative imports? (writing a simple package)
  • Testing
  • ...