ASPP 2025 - Reflection

I am currently on my way back from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where I participated in this year’s edition of the Advanced Scientific Programming in Python (ASPP) Summer School. This blog post provides an overview of the summer school and includes a brief reflection on my time there.

In a nutshell: I had an incredible time and would highly recommend it to anyone who is analyzing scientific data and doesn’t have extensive training in computer science or software engineering practices.

Pre-ASPP

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect (in terms of content, presumed background knowledge, etc.), which made me feel slightly nervous going into it. At the same time, I was super excited to spend a whole week delving deeply into the best practices of scientific programming. Importantly, my energy levels and social battery were pretty high going into it. I thought it would be a great opportunity to chat with the other participants about their career choices and PhD / Postdoctoral experiences.

During the Summer School

Each day consisted of interactive lectures, during which we covered topics such as version control using git, the fundamentals of computer architecture and scientific programming patterns. The lectures always included programming exercises and often also live coding demonstrations. For the programming exercises, we worked together in pairs, switching partners for each new topic. This was a completely new experience for me. Not only did it teach me a lot about how other people approach coding problems, it also made me more aware of my own weaknesses. In the past, programming has always been an individual experience for me. But this carries the risk of writing “bad” code and ultimately leads to the development of bad habits (since there is no one to correct you). I have finally come to realize that programming, at its core, is all about problem solving. This means it is almost always a good idea to take a minute to sketch out a game plan, either silently in your head, in written format, or by discussing it with a colleague. And if no one is available, you can always present it to a little rubber duck on your desk (always talk to the duck :D).

Post-ASPP

You know it has been a good learning experience when the time just flies by. Even though the days were long and we covered a lot of content, it was always fun and very collaborative. Everyone (from the faculty + the participants) was super approachable and happy to share their academic experiences with me.

My main takeaway: I will be more mindful of my own coding hygiene and habits (e.g. moving away from Jupyter notebooks and learning how to use debugging tools properly). I am also incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to attend ASPP at such an early stage in my career.