Preparation and Resources¶
This page lists general tutorials and other resources that supplement the JEDI-specific Academy training.
If you are unfamiliar with one or more of these topics (such as git/GitHub or C++), it is recommended that you learn about them before the Academy. The links below should be regarded as a starting point; feel free to explore other internet resources that you may find. And, though these resources are provided as Academy preparation materials, you are encouraged to return to this page as needed after the Academy to further enrich your understanding.
If you have any requests or suggestions for additional content, please contact the JEDI core team.
See also the main JEDI Documentation.
Git Flow¶
An essential project management and code development paradigm followed by JEDI. It is highly recommended that you read the article and keep a copy of the diagram handy for reference.
git, GitHub, and ZenHub¶
git is the version control system used by JEDI and GitHub is web-based platform where the JEDI code is stored and distributed. But GitHub is more than that: it is also a powerful forum for managing issues and promoting collaboration. This is particularly true when combined with the third-party project management tool ZenHub, which is used extensively in JEDI.
- git tutorials provided by Atlassian (Note: focus on the git activities, not on Bitbucket, which is an alternative to GitHub)
- GitHub itself has instructive guides and extensive help pages
- ZenHub guides are also informative and useful
git-lfs¶
As of January 2020, GitHub repotrs having over 40 million users and more than 100 million repositories. How do they handle all that data? One way is by limiting the repository size. In JEDI we do not store binary data files (such as netcdf) on GitHub. Rather, we store and distribute data files on the cloud, either directly through Amazon Web Services or indirectly through the GitHub Large File Service (LFS).
YAML¶
JEDI configuration files are written in YAML.
C++¶
The high-level JEDI code leverages the powerful object-oriented capabilities of C++. Though the learning curve can seem intimidating if you have no prior experience with it, you will soon appreciate how beneficial it can be.
- cplusplus.com is a useful source of tutorials and articles, and also as a language reference
- direct link to cplusplus.com tutorials
- C++ Tutorials from www.geeksforgeeks.org
- Tutorialspoint The english is sometimes a little clumsy here but there are some useful examples
- How to write good, modern C++ (moderate): CppCoreGuidelines and tips on type and resource safety
- C++ language reference (technical)
- The Boost C++ Library
- The Eigen C++ Library
Doxygen and Sphinx¶
Sphinx is used to generate the high-level JEDI documentation, as well as the page you are reading now. Sphinx generates html files from restructured text (rst) files. Doxygen is used for low-level documenation of classes, functions, modules, and subroutines.
Data Assimilation and Numerical Weather Prediction¶
Though we focus more on the technical details of JEDI in the Academy, JEDI is, after all, a system for Data Assimilation (DA) in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). If you are new to DA, here are a few resources to get you started.
- The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting has some good lecture notes on DA and NWP We recommend in particular the article on Data Assimilation Concepts and Methods by Bouttier and Courtier (1999)