Review by Choice Review
Biology has become a computational science; large DNA files require computers to answer even the simplest questions. Haddock (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz) and Dunn (Brown Univ.) have noticed that an individual biologist can perform many tasks using simple commands, without the intervention of a programmer. This book gives the novice what he or she needs to get useful answers from a computer. The book is organized into six sections: "Text Files" (deals with regular expressions), "The Shell" (discusses using a Unix or Unix-like shell to handle files), "Programming" (gives an introduction to programming using Python), "Combining Methods" (deals with databases and shell scripts), "Graphics" (discusses creating and dealing with graphs and images), and "Advanced Topics" (covers remote computers, software installation, and electronics for data acquisition). The appendixes discuss other operating systems and languages and include a number of useful tables of commands and codes. A companion Web site allows users to download example files and scripts, consult with others, and give feedback. The authors write at an elementary level, so even a beginning undergraduate should be able to sit down at a computer, follow the examples, and start producing reasonable results. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above. P. Cull Oregon State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
