Getting Started

Not sure where to get started? We’ve put together this “Getting Started” section to provide you with a needed foundations to continue your computational biology journey. As you progress, you’ll find more advanced topics and resources available on our website. Good luck and happy learning!

Introduction to Unix and Command Line Interface

  • The Unix Workbench - A website (book) for those new to Unix-like operating systems and working at the command-line. This book covers unix and command-line basics, as well as introductory bash programming concepts (math, variables, loops, input/output, arrays, pbraces, functions), and writing programs. As a nice bonus, it also gives brief introductions to Git, GitHub, and Cloud Computing.

Programming Basics

  • Getting Started with Python - A terrific free course by the University of Michigan to learn the basics of programming in Python, with no prerequisites.
  • R for Data Science - A website for the R for Data Science book, with a focus on how to perform data science with R, from data exploration (visualization, workflow, working with tidy data, scripting), wrangling, modeling, and communicating results (R markdown).

Version Control with Git and Github

Data Formats and Databases in Biology

  • Understanding Biological Data Formats - Learn about common file formats in bioinformatics, such as FASTA, FASTQ, SAM/BAM, VCF, GFF, and GTF.
  • NCBI Resources - Explore the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s databases and tools for biological research.

Project Organization and Reproducibility