During this transition to remote work, many researchers are taking up coding. Which language should you start with? How are languages different?

Thread about my research experiences with Python, MATLAB, and R :

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I use Python as a starting language when learning to code.

Python is a general purpose language for web/mobile app development, simple scripting, data analysis, and more. Python is arguably the most user friendly language which makes it great for beginners. Python is FREE. 2/

What do I mean by "user friendly"?

Compare how 4 different languages print "hello world" to the screen to see Python's 'English-like' syntax:

Python: print('hello world")

Java: System.out.println('hello world')

MATLAB: disp('hello world')

Bash: echo hello world

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I use MATLAB to construct math models for simulating protein dynamics during immune response.

Instead of general purpose, MATLAB is a language for scientists and engineers and has specialized tools in image processing, machine learning, math modeling, and more. 4/

It's worth noting that MATLAB is not the only language with math modeling capabilities. I work with MATLAB because I have access to research mentors with MATLAB specific expertise. Keep in mind YOUR resources when picking a language.

MATLAB also requires a paid license. 5/

I use R to work with large datasets and make (beautiful) figures.

Looking for trends underlying LARGE tables of data? I recommend "tidyverse," a collection of R packages for database manipulation and visualization that share underlying grammar for easy use. 6/

One of the BEST online resource for learning R is the book, "R for Data Science" by @StatGarrett and @hadleywickham, available for FREE here:

7/ https://r4ds.had.co.nz/index.html 

There are SO MANY places to explore when it comes to coding. When choosing a language, ask yourself: How user friendly is the language? What are the learning resources available to me? What task am I trying to complete?

Take a look around the coding world and HAVE FUN! 8/8