Course Welcome and Orientation
Agenda (80 minutes)
- 10 min - Welcome and settle-in
- 25 min - Syllabus highlights and course expectations
- 10 min - Student introductions and research interests
- 20 min - Create a playground repository from the course template
- 15 min - Questions, next steps, and what to do before nextime
Learning Goals
By the end of this class, you should be able to:
- Explain the main purpose of CMSE 802.
- Identify the course expectations and weekly workflow.
- Set up a playground repository using the course template.
- Name one research direction you may want to use in the course.
1. Welcome
CMSE 802 helps you build better research software. You’ll learn software engineering practices, explore computational tools and modeling approaches, and discover techniques you can adapt to your own research.
2. Syllabus
The Syllabus can be found in the Course Guide here:
We will review the course syllabus and the instructor will try to answer any questions you may have.
- The course centers on your own research context.
- Weekly (out of class) work should support progress on software you already need.
- In-class activities will focus on modeling components, software workflow practice, and research-aligned project progress.
3. Student Introductions and Research
Share your name, program, and one research problem or project area you want this course to support.
4. Playground Repository
We will be using the Research Software Project Tempalte all semester to explore various software engineering design tools and pricipals.
https://github.com/colbrydi/Research_Software_Project_Template
The goal is to provide easy to use tools that you can quickly adapt to your own projects to make code that is:
Safe, Portable, Reproducible, Robust, and Literate
This template is desined such that researchers could use this as a starting point to set up a new git repsoitory.
That will work for some but maybe not all of your projects. To give us a common workflow I am going to have everyone in class make their own git repository using t
GitHub, GitLab, and Choice
You do not need to create a GitHub account for this course.
Instead, you may choose the platform that best fits your situation:
| Platform | Strengths | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub | Familiar to many students, easy template sharing, strong public collaboration support | Useful if you want a public-facing portfolio or already have an account |
| MSU GitLab | Good choice for MSU-supported work, private collaboration, and class-specific repositories | A strong option if you want to keep course work separate from a public profile |
Use whichever platform helps you work clearly and consistently. The class will support either option.
We will be using git a lot in this course. Don’t worry if you are not yet familar with git. We will have plenty of time to p Here are some resources you can use to help you get started.
Playground Repository Activity
Your first hands-on task is to create a playground repository using the course template. This is a practice space, not your final project repository.
Suggested first steps:
- Open the course template.
- Create or clone a playground repository.
- Make one small markdown edit.
- Save and commit that change.
- Note any questions or problems you want help with next time.
Before Next Class
- Finish reading the syllabus and write down one question you still have.
- Confirm which platform you want to use for the playground repository.
- Make one small change in the playground repo and save it.
- Be ready to share one research problem this course might help you advance.