Interactive Carpentries exercises on sandbox.bio

Sandbox.bio is a free bioinformatics training platform, where all the tools you need run in the browser, so no setup is needed. This week, Sandbox.bio is releasing Programming with Python Exercises, an interactive companion to the exercises in The Carpentries’ Programming with Python workshop.

Each exercise runs in a real Python environment, and gives you immediate feedback on whether your answer is correct, along with hints if you need a push in the right direction.

Here’s a debugging exercise in action:

In these exercises, you work through the same scenario as the original Carpentries lesson, which is to analyse mock clinical trial data using Python. More than just syntax, the exercises help you develop an intuition for problem solving, and how to approach debugging issues in your programs.

Whether you’re a Carpentries Instructor, learner, or just curious, please give it a try and let me know what you think. I’d love feedback on what worked, what didn’t, and what would make it more useful for future workshops. Please let me know your thoughts using the Interactive Carpentries exercises feedback form. Feedback responses are maintained by Sandbox.bio and are not collected under the Carpentries Privacy Policy.

Thank You

Thank you to Danielle Sieh and SherAaron Hurt at The Carpentries for the collaboration with testing, and for the work you all do making research computing more accessible to everyone.