Overview

Understanding file systems

This week you will carry out some independent study to ensure you have some understanding of computer file systems. We will introduce you to the concepts of paths and working directories.

Artwork by Horst (2023): “code gets the blame”

Learning objectives

The parentheses after each learning objective indicate where the content covers that objective.

The successful student will be able to:

• explain what an operating system is
• explain the organisation of files and directories in a file systems
• explain what a file is and give some common files types
• explain what is meant by a plain text file
• explain the relationship between the file extensions, the file format and associations with programs
• use a file manager
• explain root, home and working directories
• explain absolute and relative file paths
• know what R and RStudio are
• know how to organise their work

Instructions

1. Prepare

   1. Join the video conference Intro: Data Handling - BIO00027C-A (Lecture) on your timetable

   2. Read What they forgot to teach you about computers

   3. Read What are R and Rstudio?

2. Workshop

   1. Optional: Install R and RStudio

3. Consolidate

References

Horst, Allison. 2023. “Data Science Illustrations.” https://allisonhorst.com/allison-horst.