Starting a new software project is exciting! It’s your chance to build something clean, functional, and easy to manage. But without a strong foundation, even small projects can quickly spiral into a confusing mess of bugs, untracked changes, and hard-to-follow code. This is especially true in research environments, where programming often takes a backseat to scientific discovery, and software evolves unpredictably as it adapts to new experiments and shared use. So how do you set yourself up for success from the beginning?

This talk is your beginner-friendly guide to designing smarter, maintainable software using proven design patterns. We’ll explore how patterns like the Singleton (for managing shared resources), the Template Method (for reusable workflows), and the Factory Method (for flexible object creation) can transform your code from fragile and frustrating to solid and scalable.

Using real-world examples from research labs, we’ll walk through how these patterns solve common problems, simplify collaboration, and keep your projects on track, even as they grow. Whether you're developing a new pipeline, a data analysis tool, or an experiment software, this talk will equip you with the foundational knowledge to design software that supports your scientific goals without becoming an unmanageable burden.

Let’s start building research software the right way, so you can focus on science, not debugging.