Software Training

With a focus on cross-experiment training

Kilian Lieret^1,2, Wouter Deconinck⁸, Peter Elmer^1,2, Sudhir Malik³, Alexander Moreno⁴, Stefan Roiser⁵, Jason Vaetch⁶, Michel Hernandez Villanueva⁷

for the IRIS-HEP/HSF Training Group

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Confidential

Customized for Lorem Ipsum LLC

Version 1.0

The need for software training

• As we collect more and more data and perform increasingly complex analyses, our software is mission critical �→ need to follow industry standards & best practices
• The broader data analysis ecosystem is evolving faster than ever, but these changes are driven by industry → we must keep pace

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• (Almost) all scientists write software but few have formal software education�→ almost every scientist needs to be trained

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Much is being done already…

Experiment onboarding

Recent talk at CHEP from the HSF Data Analysis and HSF Training WGs (proceedings in progress)

Common challenges for all initiatives:

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• Supporting self-study and events (virtual, in-person, hybrid)
• Maintaining up-to-date materials (unit testing and regular updates)
• Consolidate different resources (Sphinx, doxygen, twiki, forums, …)
• Interactivity & active learning
• Sustaining educator workforce

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No two experiments have the same strategy; every experiment excels at certain aspects; not the focus of this talk

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Much is being done already…

Cross-experiment training schools

Unsurpassed for hands-on training and networking, but limited #participants

and self-study support

… and more

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Much is being done already… but we need to scale!

We need a unified, scalable, and sustainable software training framework

Need to educate

O(10k)

HEPex people worldwide

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Let’s collaborate and do this efficiently!

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

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We need a unified, scalable, and sustainable software training framework

The IRIS-HEP/HSF Training group is building a community around these principles

A unified Training Center for HEP

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• HSF Training Center currently lists 25 training modules of various authors
• Want to become focal point for all HEP Training activities
• Central list of training events (everyone can add)

25 modules

O(500) views/month

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Building a community

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Scalable & sustainable trainings

Example 1: HSF Analysis preservation training (5 individual modules)

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Many of our modules embrace the framework of The Carpentries

• Built from markdown files (easy & maintainable!)
• Rendered as a webpage with Jekyll
• Verbose and self-study ready
• Events use combination of self study with videos + live lectures + small-group virtual mentoring sessions

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Bundling 5 Modules

Video walkthroughs

Clear prerequisites

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Scalable & sustainable trainings

Example 2: HSF C++ course

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• Slides generated from LaTeX source
• Has been taught in-person, virtual and hybrid
• Life lectures and exercise sessions
• Full videos available from events

548 slides, 695 pages, > 1k commits

Originally developed by S. Ponce, now community effort driven by B. Gruber, S. Hageboeck et. al.

8 events till now

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

We scale!

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Our material is �

• verbose

→ Onboarding instructors is easy!

→ Significant self-study readership

• Easy-to-edit and open-source �→ Can be adapted and extended for different contexts

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Sustainability

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Training is mission-critical and costs significant resources → Efforts must be incentivized:

• Acknowledged: HSF credits contributors both on our community page and on individual lessons, but could more be done?
• Encouraged: Supervisors must motivate and push their students/ employees to contribute
• Rewarded:
• Service work credits should be given for all contributions (including cross-experiment training)
• Hiring discussions should acknowledge and push for contributions

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Conclusion

• Software training efforts are central
• Experiment-specific training initiatives differ vastly between experiments (let’s learn from each other’s strengths!)
• Experiment-independent topics are the foundation on which to build; we need to scale up training in this area
• The HSF Training WG built a community of educators around training material that is open source, verbose and sustainably maintainable

• Scaled to > 2000 learners and more could be done
• Our training center aims to be a central entry point to all relevant material
• We need buy-in from the experiments to grow and sustain our efforts:
• Need instructors & mentors
• We welcome & support new material
• Cross-linking our training center/ material will increase readership
• Contributions to training must be
• encouraged (by supervisors)
• rewarded (service work credits, hiring, …)

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(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training

Thank you!

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@hepsoftfound

@hsf-training

hepsoftwarefoundation.org

Much is being done already…

Impart best practices & HEP domain knowledge: �HSF Intermediate Training, experiment StarterKits, …

Democratize science: �HSF software basic training, University courses, Self-study, …

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Mentoring & hands-on experience: TAC-HEP, WATCHEP, IRIS-HEP, GSoC, other internships

Networking & catch up with recent developments: �CSC, GridKA, CoDaS-HEP, MLHEP, INFN ESC, …

🚧 [WIP] WILL BE REPLACED BY COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SLIDE 🚧

(Cross-experiment) Software Training – Kilian Lieret for IRIS-HEP/HSF Training