When developing projects based on a frequent theme or use case, say a Python package or a research analysis directory for an experiment for example, you want to be consistent with the organization of files and folders. There are several benefits:
- Consistent structure allows for faster lookups with fewer head-scratches
- Consistent structure allows for reproducible and shareable content
Both the advantages are highly desirable to have. Previously, I'd write my own script to generate and setup a directory structure, but recently, I discovered a Python package called Cookiecutter that provides an enhanced mechanism to generate project skeletons. It uses Jinja2 templating.
Using cookiecutter, for example, I wrote a Snakemake skeleton that can be quickly setup for use.
cookiecutter https://github.com/raivivek/snakemake-cookiecutter
The command above will use the project template from the Github repository and using specific project relevant details supplied by you during the process, setup a skeleton directory.
There are lots of useful Cookiecutter templates!
I wish to adapt a few ones for my personal use --- specifically, the
reproducible-data-science cookie.
Happy hacking!