[ASA] Introduction to coding with AI Thursday 2nd, 2-3pm - Zoom and in-person

[Darren Croton]

Hi again. A quick follow-up to answer a few questions:

- The workshop time is 2-3 pm AEST (see the subject line - sorry, forgot to put that detail in the email body).
- Yes, it will be recorded, and I’ll circulate the link afterwards, in case you’re interested but can’t make it.

I’m also considering running a more advanced workshop covering topics like planning new code features/refactors, AI orchestrator/worker workflows, running AI drift and code reviews, having the AI manage version control for you, testing/validation workflows … stuff like that. If there is interest.

See you tomorrow!
Darren


On 1 Jul 2026, at 11:31 am, Darren Croton <dcroton at swin.edu.au> wrote:

Dear ASA members,

This Thursday (tomorrow) I'll be running a workshop on how to use the latest AI coding tools (eg Claude Code, Codex, etc.) to revive and modernise a scientific codebase. This is scheduled as an in-person session at Swinburne, but I thought I’d open it up more widely in case there are others in our community that would be interested in joining via Zoom.


https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/rULQCGv0oyC051gP0hKfPfBX1Gh?domain=swinburne.zoom.us
Meeting ID: 756 407 223
Password: 059918

DETAILS:

The idea is to start with some old code (for me, I'll be in a folder that had its last touch in 2010 and first in 2006). We'll work through getting set up, version control, modernisation, validation, and anything else that might help you.

You can come along with your laptop, a coding agent already set up, a folder to work in, and follow along. Or just come along with an interest and to get a sense of what can be done.

See you on Thursday!
Darren


[*] If you want to follow along with your own code, please spend some time beforehand installing the tool you want to use. We could spend a whole session on this if you're coming in cold, so I'd like to limit this part to ~10 min, and some prep would be helpful to everyone. Each company has detailed instructions online that are straightforward to follow.

You'll get the most value out of a paid plan (I recommend Anthropic’s Claude Code or OpenAI’s Codex @$30 AUD/month). But I believe there are still free offerings with weaker models that offer a reasonable starter (Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI with an education account, Google’s Antigravity CLI).

If anyone is having problems with setup, don’t hesitate to contact me beforehand and I can (hopefully) help.



—
Prof Darren Croton (he/him)
ARC Future Fellow

Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing
ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics
Swinburne University of Technology

P: +61 39214 5537
E: dcroton at swin.edu.au
M: H74, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
W: https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/BNPACJyBrGf1EqX21TGh9fyPIoa?domain=astronomy.swin.edu.au

I respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People, and their Elders past, present, and emerging, who are the traditional custodians of the land on which Swinburne’s Australian campuses are located.


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