Comments on: American Scientist Article on How Scientists Use Computers http://third-bit.com/blog/archives/2785.html Data is ones and zeroes | Software is ones and zeroes and hard work. Tue, 22 May 2012 16:23:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: ekzept http://third-bit.com/blog/archives/2785.html#comment-2896 ekzept Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:54:46 +0000 http://pyre.third-bit.com/blog/?p=2785#comment-2896 Were the participants in the survey self-selected? If so, how did you account for or check on the degree of self-selection bias? (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_bias) Were the participants in the survey self-selected? If so, how did you account for or check on the degree of self-selection bias? (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selection_bias)

]]> By: Paul Marino http://third-bit.com/blog/archives/2785.html#comment-2895 Paul Marino Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:04:28 +0000 http://pyre.third-bit.com/blog/?p=2785#comment-2895 I was wondering if any data was collected on which programming or scripting languages were used by scientists. This would be helpful to students looking for useful tools. I was wondering if any data was collected on which programming or scripting languages were used by scientists. This would be helpful to students looking for useful tools.

]]> By: Tobu http://third-bit.com/blog/archives/2785.html#comment-2894 Tobu Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:13:34 +0000 http://pyre.third-bit.com/blog/?p=2785#comment-2894 @Matt: You do need DVCS when alone, if only to have a repo set up in seconds that gives you easy backups and the freedom to make mistakes. @Matt: You do need DVCS when alone, if only to have a repo set up in seconds that gives you easy backups and the freedom to make mistakes.

]]> By: Matt Doar http://third-bit.com/blog/archives/2785.html#comment-2893 Matt Doar Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:30:34 +0000 http://pyre.third-bit.com/blog/?p=2785#comment-2893 So not all scientists want to be programmers - no surprise there, just like not all accountants want to either, so they have a DSL such as Excel. An interesting question I asked myself is what is that I do differently if I am not coding for a shared project? Well, I don't need version control with great support for merging, but I do need version control. Other than that, I think the same way about both situations. At least, I think I do. So not all scientists want to be programmers – no surprise there, just like not all accountants want to either, so they have a DSL such as Excel.

An interesting question I asked myself is what is that I do differently if I am not coding for a shared project? Well, I don’t need version control with great support for merging, but I do need version control. Other than that, I think the same way about both situations. At least, I think I do.

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