Bridging contributor's knowledge and the technology of The Turing Way, an open guide for data science

Jim Madge

The Turing Way/Alan Turing Institute

A personal perspective on the interface of infrastructure and people

What are we trying to achieve?

We are making something for a purpose.

How do we measure progress?

We need contributions.

Is facilitating contributors the most important activity?

Setting the scene

The problem

What we do

Lessons

The Turing Way

An illustration showing the approach of The Turing Way. In the foreground, a person pushes a trolley full of data along a path marked 'The Turing Way'. Along the path there are buildings representing key aspects of The Turing Way. These are ethics, collaboration, project design, reproducibility, and communication and outreach. People along the path are visiting the building. The path leads to a sunrise, stylised with data science iconography such as a pie chart and computer file. Text on the picture explains that The Turing Way aims to make this approach 'too easy not to do'.
The Turing Way Pathway by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Me

Setting the scene

The problem

What we do

Lessons

Maintaining quality

Readable Code by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Diverse contributors

Community Exchange by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

In The Turing Way

Very diverse community.

Contributions are mostly prose.

Generally not software engineers.

Everyone can make valuable contributions and technical skills is not a measure of a contributors worth.

Setting the scene

The problem

What we do

Lessons

Why Git and GitHub anyway?

Project History by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Metatext

Recognising all contributions

Acknowledge Contributors by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Support

An illustration showing a contributor making their first pull request. Two people sit at a desk, with laptop computers, working together. One is writing a contribution, while the other approves the pull request. Above the people is a schematic representation of the pull request process. A contributor clones the project and makes their changes. They then create a pull request which, when approved, is merged back into the upstream project.
First Pull Request by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Even more support

An illustration showing people participating in a Turing Way Book Dash remotely. In the foreground a person is shown from behind working at their desk. They are working on their laptop computer, wearing headphones. To their left their dog is sitting and watching. Above the computer is a representation of remote collaboration using video calls. Four other Book Dash participants are shown in boxes emanating from the computer.
Remote Book Dash by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

CI and automation

GitHub Actions by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Setting the scene

The problem

What we do

Lessons

Building a community takes effort

Community by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Know your contributors

Goat Heard No. 2 by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Trust in CI

Continuous Integration by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Version control is not optional

An illustration demonstrating the value and importance of version control. Two people are shown in two different scenarios. In one there is no version control. They people look through a messy, unorganised box unable to find what they want. In the other scenario, with version control, the work is neatly organised in a filing cabinet with dividers marking distinct versions. The people are easily able to find what they are looking for.
Version Control by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Be flexible …

Article Types by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

But know when to be strict

  • Don't knowingly break CI.
  • Don't knowingly introduce bugs.
  • Don't introduce problems which you expect someone else to fix.

Acknowledgements

An illustration thanking those watching the presentation. Two people hold a fabric banner with the word 'thanks' written on it. The people are smiling and one is giving a thumbs-up
Thanks Banner by Scriberia. Used under CC-BY 4.0 10.5281/zenodo.8169292

Infrastructure Working Group

Alexandra Araujo Alvarez and Anne Lee Steele (Project and Community Managers)

Scriberia, who we work with to make the excellent, openly licensed, illustrations

All Turing Way team members and contributors!

Join us

Read the book

the-turing-way.netlify.app

Join the community

the-turing-way.start.page
theturingway.slack.com
@turingway@fosstodon.org

Get involved

Community Handbook
Good First Issues
Book Dashes