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Plase Don't

  • Don't copy-paste code
  • Don't attach large files to emails
  • Don't use pixel graphics
  • Don't take screenshots with your phone
  • Don't run a job without estimating resources
  • Don't justify poor practices with "just"
  • Don't suffer in silence

Copy-Paste

If you want to improve your coding skills, write code. If you want to improve your copy-paste skills, copy-paste. Every time you copy-paste code instead of typing, brain cells die.

Email Attachments

Please don't send large email attachments. If you must send someone data via email, always compress it first. The better way to share data is to send a URL to a file or directory in the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, Mega, etc). A common source of large files is PowerPoint presentations with pixel graphics.

Pixel Graphics

Image formats like GIF, HEIC, JPG, PNG, and TIFF store graphics as pixels. They don't scale well and can take up enormous amounts of storage. It's much better to make graphics in vector format (e.g. SVG, Illustrator). PDF can be a mixture of formats, so don't be fooled into thinking that PDF is all vector.

Screenshots

Screenshots are rarely necessary. If you're working in a terminal and get an error message, you can copy-paste the text of the error message (it's okay to copy-paste error messages, but not code). Screenshots use a lot more storage. If you take a picture with your phone, the file may be really large. Even though computers today have lots of storage, it's always a good idea to be mindful of how much space things take.

Resources

There are 4 resources on a computer.

  • CPUs
  • Memory
  • Disk
  • Network

Before you run a big job, you should be able to estimate how much of each resource will be required. If you don't know how much, you shouldn't run the job. To gain appreciation for each resource, use top to monitor smaller jobs.

CPUs are the easiest resource to share. Even a single CPU can run multiple jobs. In general, don't worry about CPU usage.

Memory isn't easily shared. If you use all the memory, the machine will become sluggish or unusable for all users.

Using up all of a disk will prevent anyone on the same filesystem from writing their files. If you fill up the space on the OS disk, you can kill the machine for all users.

Network usually isn't a problem, but if you set up hundreds of jobs with high I/O needs, you can saturate a network and everyone will hate you.

One of the reasons to use a VM is that it can limit the amount of memory and disk are in use. Over-taxing a VM is much better than a whole machine.

Just

When someone says "I'm not a racist, but..." you know the next thing out of their mouth will expose their racism. Similarly, when a programmer says "I was just...", you know they are about to make an excuse for some programming transgressions like hard-coding paths. Laziness leads to poor programming practices. Try to code the right way 99% of the time.

Silence

Whether you can't figure out how to debug a random error or anxiety prevents you from leaving the house, don't suffer alone. Ask for help. Your lab is part of your family and wants to help you if you give them half a chance.