Short note on getting students busy
I recently read this post about lacunae in Bioinformatics. One complaint was:
I know that documentation is a thankless task. But some parts of the Bio[Java|Perl|Python] libraries are described only as an API? This became apparent to me when I had to teach the libraries to students. What does this module do and why does it do it that way? Uh …
Hey, when life gives you students, you make projects! How about having them document the missing bits in the Bio* projects? After all, they have to know the functionality of those libraries anyway. In that way, they learn how to write documentation, engage with open-source developers, and give back to the community. Also, they can come up with Cookbook examples (a good documentation and coding project). At least for Biopython, it’s as easy as getting on the GitHub repository. Note: contact the respective project email list first to coordinate this. They’ll know best how to guide you technically.
Credit: Jake von Slatt http://steampunkworkshop.com/lcd.shtml
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