Blogrolling Scientific Programming Blogs

I’ve recently started reading two scientific programming blogs that I think are well worth paying attention to, so I’m blogrolling them and offering a brief introduction here.

Serendipity is Steve Easterbrook’s blog about the interface between software engineering and climate science. Steve has a realistic and balanced viewpoint regarding the reality of programming in scientific disciplines. The blog is well written, insightful, etc., but I think the thing that really won me over were his sharp witted responses to the periodically asinine comments he receives. For example:

I’d care a lot less about seeing all the source and data if I could just ignore climate scientists and shop elsewhere. But since I’m expected to hand over $$$ and change my lifestyle because of this research, your arguments ring hollow…

[You can shop elsewhere - there are thousands of climate scientists across the world. If you don't like the CRU folks, go to any one of a large number of climate science labs elsewhere (start here: http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/data-sources/). An analogy: Imagine your doctor told you that you have to change your eating habits, or your heart is unlikely to last out the year. You would go and get a second opinion from another doctor. And maybe a third. But when every qualified doctor tells you the same thing, do you finally accept their advice, or do you go around claiming that all doctors are corrupt? - Steve]

Software Carpentry is the sister blog to an excellent online (and occasionally in person) course on basic software development for scientists. I strongly recommend the course to anyone who is interested in getting more serious about their programming and the blog is a nice complement pointing readers to other resources and discussions related to scientific programming.