Python Workshop at Fresno State for Summer Undergraduate Researchers

Fresno State Library

July 23-24, 2026

9:00 am - 3:30 pm

Instructors: Kat Koziar

Helpers: Dylan Simmons

The Carpentries

The Carpentries project comprises the Data Carpentry, High Performance Computing Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Software Carpentry communities of Instructors, Trainers, Maintainers, helpers, and supporters who share a mission to teach foundational computational and data science skills to researchers.

Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants will be encouraged to help one another and to apply what they have learned to their own research problems.

For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper "Best Practices for Scientific Computing".

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Code of Conduct

Everyone who participates in Carpentries activities is required to conform to the Code of Conduct, which also outlines how to report an incident if needed.

Workshop Logistics
Who

The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. You don't need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.

Where
LIB 2127, Office of IDEAS, Fresno State Library. Get directions with OpenStreetMap or Google Maps.
When

July 23-24, 2026; 9:00 am - 3:30 pm Add to your Google Calendar.

Requirements

Participants must bring a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed below).

Accessibility

We are committed to making this workshop accessible to everybody. The workshop organizers have checked that:

  • The room is wheelchair / scooter accessible.
  • Accessible restrooms are available.

We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. We do not require participants to provide documentation of disabilities or disclose any unnecessary personal information. However, we do want to help create an inclusive, accessible experience for all participants. We encourage you to share any information that would be helpful to make your Carpentries experience accessible. To request accessibility support for this workshop, please fill out the accessibility support request form. If you have questions or need assistance with the accessibility support form please email us.

Glosario is a multilingual glossary for computing and data science terms. The glossary helps learners attend workshops and use our lessons to make sense of computational and programming jargon written in English by offering it in their native language. Translating data science terms also provides a teaching tool for Carpentries Instructors to reduce barriers for their learners.

Workshop Recordings

Carpentries workshops are designed to be interactive rather than lecture-based, with lessons that build upon one another. To foster a positive online learning environment, we strongly recommend that participants join in real time. As a result, workshop recordings are not recommended and may not be available to learners.

Contact

Please email kkoziar@mail.fresnostate.edu for more information.

Workshop FAQ

For answers to frequently asked questions about workshops, refer to the Carpentries Workshop FAQ.

Surveys
Pre-Workshop Survey

Please fill out this survey before attending the workshop.

Fill Out the Pre-Workshop Survey
Post-Workshop Survey

Please fill out this survey before you leave the workshop.

Fill Out the Post-Workshop Survey
Schedule
Thursday, July 23
Before Pre-workshop survey
09:00 Programming with Python (basics, matrices)
10:15 Morning break
10:30 Programming with Python (matrices, visualizing)
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 Programming with Python (lists, loops, working with files)
14:15 Afternoon break
15:00 Programming with Python (choices, functions)
15:20 Wrap-up
15:30 END
Friday, July 24
09:00 Plotting and Programming in Python (DataFrames)
10:15 Morning break
10:30 Plotting and Programming in Python (visualizations with DataFrames)
11:00 Lunch break
12:00 Break for STRIDE Zoom Workshop
13:00 Programming with Python (errors, defensive programming)
14:00 Afternoon break
14:15 Programming with Python (debugging)
14:45 Post-workshop Survey
14:50 Q&A plus Wrap-up
15:30 END

Setup

To participate in a Software Carpentry workshop, you will need access to software as described below. In addition, you will need an up-to-date web browser.

We maintain a list of common issues that occur during installation as a reference for instructors that may be useful on the Configuration Problems and Solutions wiki page. If you receive a no module named notebook error, contact Kat for help.

Python

Python is a popular language for research computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. Installing all of its research packages individually can be a bit difficult, so we recommend Conda-forge, an all-in-one installer.

Regardless of how you choose to install it, please install the most recent Python version available by going to the latest download site and scrolling to the Files section to find the download for your operating system.

We will teach Python using the Jupyter Notebook, a programming environment that runs in a web browser (Jupyter Notebook will be installed by Miniforge). For this to work you will need a reasonably up-to-date browser. The current versions of the Chrome, Safari and Firefox browsers are all supported (some older browsers, including Internet Explorer version 9 and below, are not).

Challenges with OneDrive

OneDrive is used by many institutions to sync your user folder (C:\Users\[your-username]\) within an organisation. It may cause issues with the installation of the Carpentries environment.
If you have OneDrive set up, please ensure that you can access your C:\Users\[your-username]\Downloads folder:

  • Open File Explorer
  • Right click on the "Downloads" folder in the left-hand navigation pane
  • Select "Properties"
  • In the "Location" tab, ensure that the path is set to C:\Users\[your-username]\Downloads
    • OneDrive Downloads Location

If you encounter problems, please contact your IT support team and workshop organisers for assistance before the workshop.
  1. Open https://conda-forge.org/download/ with your web browser.
  2. Download the Miniforge for Windows installer
  3. Double click on the downloaded file (Something like, Minforge3-Windows-x86_64.exe)
    • If you get a "Windows protected your PC" pop-up from Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, click on "More info" and select "Run anyway"
  4. Follow through the installer using all of the defaults for installation except make sure to check Add Miniforge3 to my PATH environment variable.
  5. Then:
    • EITHER:
      • Right click the following link and click "Save link as...": Carpentries environment file
      • Save the file to your C:\Users\[your-username]\Downloads folder.
      • Make sure that the filename is carpentries_environment.yml and the "Save as type" option is set to YML file (*.yml)
        The following steps requires using the Miniforge Prompt command line. If you aren't comfortable doing the installation yourself stop here and request help at the workshop.
    • OR:
      • Open Git Bash
      • cd ~/Downloads
      • curl -L -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/carpentries/workshop-template/refs/heads/gh-pages/data/carpentries_environment.yml
  6. Open your Start Menu from your taskbar, or use the Win Windows key.
  7. Search for the application "Miniforge Prompt", and click the icon to open it.
    • Once open, ensure the prompt shows your C:\Users\[your-username] folder. If it does, continue to Step 8 below:
      Miniforge Prompt [your-username] as froggleston
      In this case, the prompt shows C:\Users\froggleston. Your username will be different!
    • If it doesn't:
      • Find your username by typing whoami and press Enter
      • Your username will be shown as [machine-name]\[your-username]. You only need the [your-username] part after the slash, i.e. froggleston in this example.
      • Type cd C:\Users\[your-username] and press Enter
      Miniforge Prompt whoami
      • Continue to Step 8 below
    • If you get stuck, please contact your workshop organisers to get assistance before the workshop starts.
  8. In the Miniforge Prompt window, run the following commands:
    • Type cd Downloads and press Enter
    • Type conda env create -f carpentries_environment.yml and press Enter
  9. The installation may take a few minutes depending on your internet connection speed. Once complete, you can close the Miniforge Prompt window.
  1. Open https://conda-forge.org/download/ with your web browser.
  2. Download the appropriate Miniforge installer for macOS
    The following steps require using the shell. If you aren't comfortable doing the installation yourself stop here and request help at the workshop.
  3. Open a terminal window and navigate to the directory where the executable is downloaded (e.g., cd ~/Downloads).
  4. Type 
    bash Miniforge3-
    and then press Tab to autocomplete the full file name. The name of file you just downloaded should appear. Press Enter (or Return depending on your keyboard).
  5. Follow the text-only prompts in the terminal. To move through the text, press Spacebar.
    • Type yes and press Enter (or Return) to approve the license.
    • Press Enter (or Return) to approve the default location for the files.
    • Type yes and press Enter (or Return) to prepend Miniforge to your PATH (this makes the Miniforge distribution the default Python).
  6. Then:
    • EITHER:
      • Right click the following link and click "Save link as...": Carpentries environment file
      • Save the file to your Downloads folder.
      • Make sure that the filename is carpentries_environment.yml and the "Save as type" is set to YML file (*.yml)
    • OR :
      • Open your `bash` terminal
      • cd ~/Downloads
      • curl -L -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/carpentries/workshop-template/refs/heads/gh-pages/data/carpentries_environment.yml
  7. In the terminal, run: conda env create -f ~/Downloads/carpentries_environment.yml
  8. Close the terminal window.
  1. Open https://conda-forge.org/download/ with your web browser.
  2. Download the appropriate Miniforge installer for Linux
    The following steps require using the shell. If you aren't comfortable doing the installation yourself stop here and request help at the workshop.
  3. Open a terminal window and navigate to the directory where the executable is downloaded (e.g., cd ~/Downloads).
  4. Type 
    bash Miniforge3-
    and then press Tab to autocomplete the full file name. The name of file you just downloaded should appear. Press Enter (or Return depending on your keyboard).
  5. Follow the text-only prompts in the terminal. To move through the text, press Spacebar.
    • Type yes and press Enter (or Return) to approve the license.
    • Press Enter (or Return) to approve the default location for the files.
    • Type yes and press Enter (or Return) to prepend Miniforge to your PATH (this makes the Miniforge distribution the default Python).
  6. Then:
    • EITHER:
      • Right click the following link and click "Save link as...": Carpentries environment file
      • Save the file to your Downloads folder.
      • Make sure that the filename is carpentries_environment.yml and the "Save as type" is set to YML file (*.yml)
    • OR :
      • Open your terminal
      • cd ~/Downloads
      • curl -L -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/carpentries/workshop-template/refs/heads/gh-pages/data/carpentries_environment.yml
  7. In the terminal, run: conda env create -f ~/Downloads/carpentries_environment.yml
  8. Close the terminal window.