Learning outcomes

This course is aimed at complete beginners.

What does this mean?

That we follow the pace of the group as a whole (i.e. not of those that are fastest, nor the sessions in the schedule)

Additionally, this means that if a learner writes in the evaluation 'This course was too slow', this is considered neutral. If a learner writes in the evaluation 'This course was too fast', however, this is considered bad.

Below are the learning outcomes of this course, as copied from its evaluation. The course is learner-centered (why?), hence the pace is determined be the learners (i.e. not by the clock).

These are the two main goals:

Time	Main goal
Morning	To be able to run Python code on an HPC cluster
Afternoon	To be able to read/write a variable from/to a file

You can be reasonably sure you'll achieve this:

• I am comfortable using the documentation of my HPC center
• I am comfortable using the Python book
• I am comfortable learning Python
• I can load a Python version on my HPC cluster
• I can describe what the Python interpreter is
• I can use a text editor on my HPC cluster
• I can create a Python script
• I can run a Python script
• I can run a Python script that uses a graphical library on an HPC cluster
• In Python, I can create a variable
• In Python, I can use a variable
• I can convert a simple equation to Python code
• In Python, I can find and use the operator for exponentiation
• In Python, I know what the modulo operator is and when to use it
• I can convert a simple text question to Python code
• In Python, I can write text to a file

Here are the rest of the learning outcomes, each item being less and less likely to be discussed:

• In Python, I can ask a user for input
• In Python, I can use user input in a calculation
• I can find and use a Python module on my HPC cluster
• In Python, I can read a file
• In Python, I can create a file
• In Python, I can use command-line arguments
• In Python, I can import the matplotlib library
• In Python, I can use a for loop
• In Python, I can write a function without an argument and without a return type
• In Python, I can write a function that calls a function
• In Python, I can write a function that requires an argument
• In Python, I can write a function with a return value

These are non-goals:

Non-goal	Example of course that does teach this
Run useful calculations	The NAISS HPC Python course 'Basic batch and Slurm' session
Use parallel computations	The NAISS HPC Python course 'Parallel computing' session
Professional software development	The Programming Formalisms course
The software module system	The NAISS HPC Python course 'Using packages' session
Matplotlib	The NAISS HPC Python course 'Matplotlib' session
Transferring files to/from an HPC cluster	The NAISS File Transfer course