If you browse the Internet you will find a lot of information concerning advice or good practices for bioinformaticians. Yet, I still see students struggle who either are ignorant to all of this FREE advice or who just like to make life hard for themselves (some people live for the struggle). I am going to assume these students are not masochist and are instead just ignorant to the good advice of their colleagues. So, here is another list of good practices that I find are most valuable to my everyday life.
1. No One Likes A Quitter
Don't quit because you are frustrated. In any field managing and analyzing data is frustrating. Data are like messy little toddlers that you have to wrangle with. Just like every parent goes through it, so do all bioinformaticians. It is just a fact of life. Go take a break (or go break something) and then come back and handle your situation. It is OK to change your approach. If something does not work, go find something that will get the job done.
2. Take Notes
Take the time to write down notes. Write some notes on your installs, on your pipelines... everything. I am 100% certain that you will have to repeat the same thing again and you will want those darn notes so that you don't have to beat your head against a wall for the second time.
3. Google, Search, Ask
You spend your life in front of a computer and your most valuable resource is your browser. There are 3 steps you should always do in this particular order until you find an answer: 1) Google it, 2) search a forum for it (Seqanswers, Biostar, etc.) and 3) ask the Internet for the answers you seek! And don't be ashamed that you are on Google searching for something. Here is a news flash, we all search for things. Our field is ever growing, ever changing and no one can be all knowledgeable where they never Google for an answer to help them out.
4. Organize
Organization will save you time. I am a huge lover of flowcharts. I have flowcharts hanging up on my wall because I love them so much. Before I do anything, I make two flowcharts. My first flowchart is going to include my pipeline (this includes testing/checks to make sure things are running correctly and reporting). My second flowchart includes how I plan on structuring my directory. NEVER put all of your files in a single directory dump. Learn to create child directories and store things in a neat sort of manner.
5. Hold Yourself to Standards
Be consistent. One of the biggest complaints about the field is the lack of standardization and consistency. You will one day be incredibly frustrated by this too ... and then you will look back at your own work and realize you are just as bad about your own standards. Develop your standards and base them on what the majority of your colleagues are doing in the field. Then stick to it!
6. Learn About Your Tools
Learn something about the tools you are using. Try to learn enough about your tool to answer the following: 1) Why am I using this tool over another? (and "because everyone else is publishing with this tool" should not be your only answer) and 2) If something breaks or if I have data that are not structured as the correct input, can I debug this issue? Also, if you are using proprietary software (nothing wrong with that), please learn about its toolkit. A lot of the tools used by these software are built from the freeware versions and repackaged in a much more user-friendly GUI. So if you plan on using 2+ softwares to validate each other, you may be stacking your deck unfairly if you do not know what freeware versions your proprietary software is built from.
7. Please, No More Redundant Tools
Do not reinvent the wheel. If there is a tool out there that you can use, take the time to learn how to use it instead of writing another one. We really don't need to be overwhelmed with tools. Seriously, how many alignment algorithms do we need? 10? 50? 200?
8. Be Relevant
Be relevant by continuing your education. You have chosen a field where the technology changes quickly. You too should be able to adapt to those changes and stay relevant.
9. Take Time to Think About How to Communicate
Most likely you are reporting your analyses and results back to someone else. Take a bit of time to think about how to best explain and describe what you are doing. And remember who your audience is so that you can communicate to their understanding.
10. Keep It Fun
Remember, your job is fun! I strongly believe that the most successful careers are the ones that you ENJOY and I hope you got into this field because you like data, computers and biology. There is no shame in taking some time to give yourself an air high-five.
Your BLAST completed after a week of anticipation - high five!
You changed all 'chr1' to '1' before making that rookie mistake (it gets us all) - high five!
You gave a great explanation of mapping (my husband thinks all I do is map things) - high five!
You just made the most complicated looking data into a great visual - high stinking five!
Relish in all the victories no matter how small.
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