A Commonplace BookJuliabeginner
Purpose
In this blog, I have collected some tutorials that I found useful while learning Julia. I will also provide a tool-chain that I like to use while coding in Julia. I hope this will speed up your process of learning Julia.
Operating System
This is not intended to be a cynical view or criticism against Windows users. However, it’s worth considering the benefits of using Linux or macOS for your programming needs, especially when working with Julia. These platforms foster a more seamless knowledge transfer between new and experienced Julia users, and you’ll likely find a wealth of resources and solutions to your programming challenges. Switching to Linux or macOS can enhance your productivity and provide a more robust environment for programming in general.
Julia Installation
Sometimes it’s necessary to have multiple versions of Julia on your machine. For example, you might need to test a package whose dependency relies on an earlier version of Julia.
A good tool for managing your Julia versions is Juliaup.
Caveats
If you found yourself unable to access Juliaup server for some mysterious
reasons. Try to use the Tuna mirror by running export JULIAUP_SERVER=https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/julia-releases before
installing Juliaup.
Package Development
As I was taught and proven by my own experience, the best way to learn Julia is by writing something. To organize the code you write, you should put it into a package. During the process, I found using PkgTemplates.jl helpful in terms of creating a structured repository. I also found using Revise.jl helpful when you are in need of constant testing and code revisions.
A concise introduction to these two packages is provided on the Coding Club page, thanks to Prof. Jin-Guo Liu.
Editor
A good editor can make your development process much more enjoyable. Personally, I prefer using Doom Emacs with Julia-Snail. However, Emacs comes with a very steep learning curve. Therefore, I would recommend beginners to use VSCode. However, don’t forget to map your keys to Vim’s. It helps.