Workshop Description (Advanced Course)

This workshop will cover some more advanced topics in python including an overview of object-oriented python (this will not be an in-depth course on object-oriented programming), use of the numpy and pandas libraries (python libraries for efficient handling of large numeric and heterogenous datasets, and matplotlib for plotting results. At the end of this workshop, students will better understand the python data structures for handling large datasets and will have some knowledge of how to manipulate these data and plot them for presentation.

Workshop Topics

  • Computer preparation/installation of needed packages
    • Introduction to python package management
  • Object-oriented python
    • What are python objects
    • Object instances and instantiation
    • Object attributes
    • Object methods

Slides for day 1 are founds here.

  • Numpy and Pandas
  • Intro to Scipy (if there is time)

Slides for day 2 can be found here.

  • Intro to Scipy
  • Matplotlib (listed by priority, not all topics may be covered if time is limited)
    • Meet the pyplot object
    • Creating a histogram
    • Creating a heatmap plot (2D histogram)

Slides for day 3 can be found here.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1EGgONrzL7VQ1VoWEdJc0RwdVk?resourcekey=0-hP7HGwq77RCOGG3T1ObEkQ&usp=sharing

Technical Requirements

Students should have a working copy of Python3 (ideally 3.4 or later) with the below packages. If you are unable to install the packages on your own, we will cover this on the first day of class.

  • Numpy
  • Pandas
  • Matplotlib

Instructor

Michael Weinstein, Ph.D., is a project scientist with research focused on skeletal dysplasias and optimizing tools for genetic engineering. His interests include metabolism as it pertains to cardiovascular disease, bone development, and automation of computational biology pipelines for variant discovery. When not in the lab or coding, he can often be found taking martial arts classes at the UCLA Wooden Center.

Email: michael.weinstein@ucla.edu

Videos

Reviews

Topics were useful and having time to test code was useful

Good introduction into the different tools available to organize good data structure!

I had no ideas that these tools existed. I don’t know if I’m at the level where I can write the code on my own, but I am more familiar with them and now know what I don’t know to a greater extent. This will help me to build up my knowledge base and hopefully get better at programming.
This was good practice applying Python skills to a real-world problem.

Workshop Details

Prerequisites: W9
Length: 3 days, 3 hrs per day
Level: Advanced
Location: Boyer 529
Seats Available: 28

Winter 2025 Dates

Jan. 14, 15, and 16
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Affiliates: Click to Enroll
Non-UCLA Affiliates: Click to Enroll
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