explaingit

edmundmiller/intro-to-programming-for-biological-sciences

Analysis updated 2026-07-18 · repo last pushed 2023-10-18

C++Audience · generalComplexity · 1/5DormantSetup · easy

TLDR

A personal archive of old C++ homework from an undergraduate 'programming for biologists' course, preserved as a nostalgic keepsake rather than a working project.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Archives old homework
      Preserves timestamps
      Tells a career story
    Tech stack
      C++
      University course
    Use cases
      Nostalgic keepsake
      Motivation for biology students
      Personal history record
    Audience
      Biology students
      Career reflectors

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Browse as a real-world example of a biology student's first steps learning to program.

USE CASE 2

Read the story to gauge whether learning programming alongside a biology degree is worth it.

USE CASE 3

Compare early beginner code to your own first assignments as encouragement.

USE CASE 4

Preserve old coursework with original timestamps as a personal history record.

What is it built with?

C++

How does it compare?

edmundmiller/intro-to-programming-for-biological-sciencesachanana/mavsdkalange/llama.cpp
Stars0
LanguageC++C++C++
Last pushed2023-10-182024-05-20
MaintenanceDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasymoderatemoderate
Complexity1/54/54/5
Audiencegeneraldeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

In plain English

This is a personal archive of homework assignments from an undergraduate programming course that the repo owner credits with influencing their career path. The course, taught by Dr. Faruck Morcos at UT Dallas, introduced biology students to programming fundamentals, likely using C++ as the teaching language. The repo itself is more of a time capsule than an active project. The owner discovered these old assignments still sitting on a university computer and decided to preserve them by uploading to GitHub, keeping the original file timestamps intact so you can see when each piece of work was completed. At the time the assignments were done, the owner wasn't familiar with Git or version control, so the timestamps serve as a makeshift history. It's a simple but sentimental way to keep track of early learning. If you're a biologist or biology student wondering whether you should learn programming, this repo is an interesting real-world example of someone who went through exactly that journey. The homework likely covers introductory concepts, things like data structures, loops, functions, and how to break down problems algorithmically, applied to scenarios that made sense in a biology context. For students in similar programs today, it could be motivating to see what the learning curve looked like for someone who later found the skills transformative. The README is brief and focuses on the story rather than technical documentation, which makes sense given that this is meant to be a nostalgic keepsake rather than a teaching resource or library for others to use. It's the kind of repo someone might browse to remember where they came from, or that a student might find encouraging as they start their own programming journey in a science field.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Summarize what programming concepts a beginner biology student would have learned from a course like this.
Prompt 2
I'm a biology student considering learning to code, what does this repo suggest about that path?
Prompt 3
Explain what introductory C++ concepts (loops, functions, data structures) typically show up in a first programming course like this one.
Prompt 4
What's a respectful way to archive my own old coursework on GitHub the way this repo did?

Frequently asked questions

What is intro-to-programming-for-biological-sciences?

A personal archive of old C++ homework from an undergraduate 'programming for biologists' course, preserved as a nostalgic keepsake rather than a working project.

What language is intro-to-programming-for-biological-sciences written in?

Mainly C++. The stack also includes C++.

Is intro-to-programming-for-biological-sciences actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2023-10-18).

How hard is intro-to-programming-for-biological-sciences to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is intro-to-programming-for-biological-sciences for?

Mainly general.

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