Useful resources

We want to collect together all of the most useful software resources on this page. We've started things off, but to make this list truly comprehensive, we are going to need help...

Tell us about your most useful resources!

Take a look over the resources below. Have we missed something? If you know of a useful resource that we haven't listed, please info [at] software [dot] ac [dot] uk (let us know) and we'll add it to this page.

Resources on this website

In addition to the links below, you should also take a look at our Guides for everything and other resources on this website.

Make a difference to software for research

• Science Code Manifesto - Software is a cornerstone of science. Without software, twenty-first century science would be impossible. Without better software, science cannot progress.

Funding

• Research Professional - leading provider of news and funding information for research professionals.

Software catalogues

• The Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse (NITRC) facilitates finding and comparing neuroimaging resources for functional and structural neuroimaging analyses—including popular tools as well as those that once might have been hidden in another researcher's laboratory or some obscure corner of cyberspace.
• The DataONE software tools database provides a brief description of a wide range of tools that are recommended for use by scientists and students, as well as additional information and links to further resources.
• ScienceSoft is a software catalogue coordinated by the European Middleware Initiative for the benefit of organisations developing or using grid and cloud software.
• The DCC catalogue of tools for managing research data focusses on software and services that directly perform curation and management tasks. It splits the resources into five major categories, based on the intended user and the stage of the data lifecycle in which it will be most useful.

Getting help with software development

• AskSteve! - you can asksteve [at] software [dot] ac [dot] uk (email AskSteve) with all your software troubles and queries. Each week or so, Steve will work on a problem and post his answer to the blog.
• Stackoverflow - a collaborative programming Q & A site that’s free to ask questions, and free to answer questions.

Starting and building community

• How to build a community - OSS Watch
• Software sustainability maturity model - OSS Watch
• Producing open-source software: How to run a successful free software project - Karl Fogel
• Why build a software community? - Developer Resource
• Before you build a software community - Developer Resource
• Tips for building a community - Developer Resource
• Talk on software sustainability at IPAC - Bruce Berriman, presented at the SSI workshop at AHM2010
• Architecture of open source applications - online book, edited by Amy Brown and Greg Wilson.

Software development

• Overview of software archaeology - Wikipedia
• Significant properties of software framework: a useful framework of things to investigate and discover - JISC
• Reducing "code smells" – a catalog of code refactoring patterns – Martin Fowler and Kent Beck.
• Example of a handover checklist in an email-based system - SSW Consulting
• Support for understanding and implementing usability - UsabilityUK / JISC
• Version control by example - Eric Sink

I'm not a lawyer - help me with legal issues

• Help with copyright and Creative Commons licences for educational resources - Web2Rights. Clearing copyright (PDF). Choosing a licence (PDF).

Before starting your next software project

• Expert and FE/HE-specific resources covering issues relating to open-source software use and development - OSS Watch
• Software Carpentry - a wide range of advice for developing software
• Software reuse readiness levels - NASA