#109 Programming, Bioinformatics and the Future of Computer Programming with Ken Youens-Clark – Senior Scientific Programmer

Ken is a senior-level programmer with over 23 years of experience developing software in industry and research environments. Ken is a self-taught computer programmer, software engineer, hacker and teacher. What started off as developing websites in the early 90’s turned into an extensive and fruitful career in bioinformatics and eventually teaching and mentorship. Ken is also the author of Tiny Python Projects published by Manning Publications.

Enjoy the show!

We speak about:

[00:30] About Ken Youens Clark

[02:00] Ken’s Work and COVID-19

[03:15] How did you get into the bioinformatics field?

[13:00] Ken’s first job in bioinformatics

[25:20] How did the design of your book come about?

[35:30] How did you keep going despite your frustration with the technology available in early computer programming?

[40:35] What are your thoughts on hard coding and data processing?

[46:00] What will your next book be about?

Resources:

Ken’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kycl4rk/

Tiny Python Projects (For 40% off use code poddatafuturology19).

Check out other books from Manning Publications, use code poddatafuturology19 for a 40% discount.

Quotes:

“[After COVID-19], the first thing I had to do was become a YouTuber.”

“I’m hoping that anyone who is stuck at home right now can watch my lectures, go through the materials, and teach themselves python at home for free.”

“That’s all computing is, transforming one thing into another.”

“How did you get into that field?”, “A completely random series of mistakes and not knowing what I’m doing”

“Anything that [my boss] asked me to do he could have done in half the time and twice as good, but he had the patience to wait for me to catch up”

“I fell in love with programming - I was like finally I’ve figured out something that’s interesting, that I truly enjoy doing”

“What I see over and over again, especially in science, especially with novice programmers is that everything about the program is hard-coded“

“I haven’t touched a windows computer … since 1999”

“[in science/academia] no one teaches programming … you just generally kinda figure it out along the way”

“I think people should be taught the basics of command lines; piping, redirecting, those basic kinds of things"

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