I want to try and create a project for myself to work on, but I don't have much of a coding background or statistics

I took computing in C and Java but that was years ago and I don't remember any of it well enough, and similarly for statistics I took an online class but it was an abridged version where I didn't learn a lot of things past 'z' values. Currently am studying biology, but I realize that in a lot of laboratory / research results or findings lots of statistics is incorporated.

I want to try and set myself apart from others and want to learn both of these things and apply to a certain project, but I'm not sure how I can develop or find this project.

Can anyone offer advice to me on either of these topics like biostats or computational biology? Or can anyone recommend me any other forums that teach these topics?
quanghieuci wrote:
I took computing in C and Java but that was years ago and I don't remember any of it well enough


Before jumping into a big project why don't you do some simpler things? I'm not saying you need to start with the fundamentals but, personally, I find it difficult and demotivating when I try and learn two difficult subjects at the same time. It sounds like here you're trying to get up to speed on C and Java as well as learn (some advanced?) biology. I also find it's easier to build out, start with something that does one task, then add functionality on to it. It helps to break it into smaller chunks rather than trying to tackle the larger picture.

Do you have any software in the lab that can export data? Maybe work on writing a program that can take this data and visualize it in various ways. Make it so that when you open a data file, the program either saves it to an internal directory or imports the data to a database so you can reference earlier data on similar specimens.

That one task you start with can be opening and displaying the raw data in a structured manner. Then work on visualizing it one way, then work on a second visualization. As examples, work on the pie chart then work on a bar graph visualization. Once that's done, implement a comparison feature. Where you can open two files and compare them side by side. Once you do that, you can do some analysis stuff where you highlight the values that are wildly different; maybe the "Value B" count is 10 in one sample but 30 in the comparison, make it so that this difference stands out.

Maybe all that is easy for you to build, which is great. Start with that then add features you aren't familiar with but need. Maybe some methods and functions you are like using are being depreciated, take this time to familiarize yourself with newer methods.

Add tags and stuff so you can compare "X" with everything tagged with "Stem Cells" and "Hamster" over the last 6 months. I wish I had more pointers, but this is where I'd start. From there you'll probably find other things to add or even find an entirely different direction.

We would be more than happy to help you along the way, I apologize that our knowledge in the biology fields may be lacking but computations and statistics is pretty universal.
I agree - start out by making some small programs which do some simple or basic maths / statistics. That will show you the path you are heading down. It's good fun! Good luck, have fun
  
Register to Join the Conversation
Have your own thoughts to add to this or any other topic? Want to ask a question, offer a suggestion, share your own programs and projects, upload a file to the file archives, get help with calculator and computer programming, or simply chat with like-minded coders and tech and calculator enthusiasts via the site-wide AJAX SAX widget? Registration for a free Cemetech account only takes a minute.

» Go to Registration page
Page 1 of 1
» All times are UTC - 5 Hours
 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Advertisement