Code Anxiety Club

Why attend?

Feeling overwhelmed by the command line? Confused by file pathways? Want to navigate the world of coding with confidence? Join the Code Anxiety Club!

Viewers can follow along as we work through common beginner topics while coding live for a quick half hour. No prior experience, installed software or setup required. Viewers can interact via the YouTube chat (you must have a YouTube account to comment) and we will try our best to answer your questions and comments.

There is no need to book a place, please follow the livestream link to join the session.

Workshop dates and topics

Package it up: Installing software and libraries

Content:

• Learn how to install your programming language of choice (Python and R will be covered).
• Understand the available package managers and why they are useful for installing coding libraries.
• Explore the benefits of ‘virtual environments’ and when they might be useful.

To join this session, please follow the link to our livestream - 7 October 2025

Project organisation: Best practices for coding projects

Content:

• Get to grips with naming conventions and why consistency is key.
• Understand how to structure your directory.
• Learn how to ‘set your directory’ so that you can easily read-in files in Python (Visual Studio Code) or RStudio.

To join this session, please follow the link to our livestream - 11 November 2025

Project organisation: Introduction to Python and R - your first scripts

Content:

• Create your first coding script in Visual Studio Code (Python) or RStudio (R).
• Master basic syntax and get to grips with functions.
• Practical exercises using the coding packages ‘pandas’ (Python) or ‘dyplyr’ (RStudio) to explore a simple dataset.

To join this session, please follow the link to our livestream - 6 January 2025

Getting started with Git: Version control basics

Content:

• Understand the importance of tracking changes to files over time.
• Install Git and master basic Git commands such as git init, git clone, git status, git add, git commit, and git push.
• Practical exercises to build confidence in using Git and GitHub.

To join this session, please follow the link to our livestream - 20 January 2025

Debugging demystified: Finding and fixing errors

Content:

• Understand the most common errors that first-time coders run into, and how best to avoid them.
• Learn how to use Visual Studio Code’s (Python) or RStudio’s (R) built-in debugger to spot problems in your scripts.
• Practical exercises to build your own function and explore why ‘variable scope’ is important.

To join this session, please follow the link to our livestream - 3 February 2025

Building confidence: Q&A and open coding session

Content:

• Something still not sticking?
• Would you like us to go through a topic again?

This session will be an open forum where there will be an opportunity to ask questions about any of the topics we have covered so far. Perhaps there is an aspect of working the command line, version control, or coding that is frustrating you. We’ve all been there! Come along to seek some friendly advice and useful tips. This livestream will follow the same format as the others, so just type a question in the chat and we will try our best to help you out.

To join this session, please follow the link to our livestream - 17 February 2025

Presenters: Jools Kasmire, Louise Capener, Nadia Kennar and Sarwat Qureshi with interactive moderation to ensure your questions are answered in real-time.

Recordings of the previous sessions are available on our YouTube channel.