Skip to content

Coding in Python/VSCode and LLMs

Date: 29. Oktober 2025
Time: 14:00 - 15:30
Speaker: Job Schepens (Project S, CRC 1252)

Overview

Set up a productive Python development environment with VSCode, essential research libraries, and modern AI-assisted coding practices with LLMs. Includes Git integration and code quality tips.

This workshop covers practical Python development for linguistic research, with hands-on examples, statistical analysis, and LLM-assisted coding workflows.

Learning Objectives

  • Configure Python and VSCode for research workflows
  • Use pandas, numpy, matplotlib effectively
  • Integrate Git and version control with VSCode
  • Apply AI-assisted coding patterns responsibly
  • Improve code quality and documentation
  • Build reproducible data analysis pipelines

Topics Covered

  • Python + VSCode environment setup (Windows, macOS, Linux)
  • Core libraries: pandas, numpy, scipy, matplotlib, seaborn
  • Git integration and collaborative workflows
  • LLM-assisted coding tools (GitHub Copilot, Continue, Cline)
  • Statistical analysis for linguistic data
  • Code quality, testing, and documentation
  • Virtual environments and dependency management

Materials

Slides & Resources

  • Workshop Presentation (Quarto) - Full workshop slides source code
  • Python environment setup
  • LLM configuration and best practices
  • Code examples and async agents

View Slides: - HTML Version - Interactive slides (best for viewing) - PDF Version - Printable PDF format

Code Repository

  • py-rdm GitHub Repository - Complete workshop materials
  • Example analyses (head nods, clause mates)
  • Starter scripts and templates
  • Requirements and setup instructions

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jobschepens/py-rdm.git
cd py-rdm

# Set up Python environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux
# or: .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1  # Windows PowerShell

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Explore examples
python head-nods-example/job-testanalysis2/code/sample_size_analysis.py
python clause-mates-example/job-testanalysis/code/analyze_pronoun_thematic_roles.py

Example Projects

The repository includes an example analysis:

Head Nods Analysis

  • Statistical comparison of head nod characteristics across languages
  • Sample size assessment and power analysis
  • Normality testing and Mann-Whitney U tests

Tools & Setup

  • Python: 3.9+ (3.11+ recommended)
  • Editor: Visual Studio Code
  • Terminal: PowerShell (Windows), Bash (macOS/Linux)
  • Version Control: Git with GitHub

Essential VS Code Extensions

  • Python (Microsoft) - Language support
  • Jupyter (Microsoft) - Notebook support
  • Pylance (Microsoft) - Type checking

LLM Integration (Optional)

  • GitHub Copilot Chat - Code completion and chat
  • Continue - LLM integration with multiple providers
  • Cline - Autonomous coding agent

Repository Structure

py-rdm/
├── head-nods-example/          # Head nods analysis
├── example-scripts/             # Helper scripts (env loading, etc.)
├── slides.qmd                   # Workshop presentation
├── requirements.txt             # Python dependencies
├── .gitignore                   # Git ignore rules
└── README.md                    # Full documentation

For Participants

Folder Organization Template

analyses-your-name/
├── code/
│   ├── data_cleaning.py
│   ├── analysis.py
│   └── visualization.py
├── processed_data/
│   └── cleaned_data.csv
├── results/
│   ├── plots/
│   ├── summary.csv
│   └── report.md
└── README.md

Last updated: October 2025