I attended the workshop Command Line, you can take the workshop on your own on their website dhrift.org.

The workshop was led by a PhD Student of Theoretical Physics who uses coding for visualizations. The workshop was an interactive way to understand the basics of coding and how its connected to the click and drop graphics of today’s computers/phones . The level of understanding needed for the workshop can be from none to beginner, if you’ve used a computer before you can navigate through the workshop and learn a thing or two.

The workshop began with explaining interface and terminal. An interface is a computer, and the terminal is the environment in which the user can communicate with the computer. The code editor is the terminal used at the workshop and it was a simple way for those in the workshop to be able to use the commands regardless of the type of computer they’re using. This was important to note as different interfaces (Microsoft, apple) have different commands to use in their respective terminals.

Many are use to a graphic/icon interface, with a mouse to click, open, move, delete, and edit items on a computer. A key takeaway from the workshop is a user can accomplish the same tasks from a graphic/icon interface on a text interface in a terminal by using commands. This method can be useful and more efficient when lengthy, repetitive tasks will take extended periods of time in a graphic interface.

I enjoyed the quick history lesson on computers, how the first interfaces were human and more specifically under-paid women. This relates to a few readings in our class, and a note was made in the workshop about the hidden contributions woman played in NASA. To relate to this week’s readings, I got a better understanding of the punch card. In the reading, Father Busa’s Female Punch Card Operatives , there was a note that Busa found his training school of female keypunch operators to be a success. But in the workshop, women were contracted in these roles for cheaper labor. I didn’t quite understand the connection of the punch card to Busa’s overall project, this workshop bridged that gap. A punch card represented machine code, now creating those punch cards is no longer physical work but digital.

As the workshop progressed, key words were defined, and questions were presented to review steps. The workshop was very interactive and easy to follow, you can go back and forward at any time, and the instructions to input commands were very clear. I would recommend the workshop to someone who would like a better understanding of a computer, the background work in place when you click your mouse.