Software and code overview

Topics in this section:

• Code development
• Collaborative research software engineering projects

Writing code and developing software for research purposes encompasses a broad range of activities. This section highlights two main topics within that range: learning foundational technical skills like programming and version control, and managing software engineering projects with communities of contributors.

Code development

The Code development topic page provides foundational information for writing code and developing software. Subsections may be useful for both individuals learning to code, and people interested in maximizing the reusability of code. Some example subjects include:

• Getting started with coding and using version control (Git/GitHub)
• Using Git and GitHub for version
• Contributing to someone else’s open source project
• Designing, writing and documenting robust, reusable software
• Debugging, testing, and continuous integration

Collaborative research software engineering projects

The Collaborative research software engineering projects topic page focuses on challenges that face scientific open source projects as they grow. Subsections may be useful to leaders and core team members of such projects, with example subjects including:

• Writing software management plans
• Formalizing project governance and team management
• Nurturing and supporting inclusive communities of users and contributors
• Tracking metrics and giving credit to contributors