2. The Architect's Toolkit I¶

Our Training Collections provide curated learning paths through our advanced training materials (called Side Quests). This collection covers four essential topics that are frequently used together for building robust and scalable workflows.

2.1 Learning objectives¶

By the end of this collection, you'll have experience with:

• Complex modular workflow architectures - Combining multiple workflows into cohesive pipelines
• Comprehensive testing strategies - Ensuring your workflows are reliable and maintainable
• Metadata management - Handling sample-specific metadata throughout your workflows effectively
• Advanced data processing - Implementing efficient data splitting and grouping patterns

These skills will enable you to build robust, scalable, and maintainable Nextflow workflows for real-world applications.

2.2 Audience & prerequisites¶

This collection is designed for users who have completed the basic Nextflow training and want to dive deeper into advanced workflow patterns, testing strategies, and data and metadata handling techniques.

Prerequisites

• Completion of Hello Nextflow training or equivalent experience
• Basic familiarity with Nextflow syntax and concepts
• Understanding of basic workflow development patterns
• Experience with command-line tools

2.3 Collection contents¶

This collection consists of four Side Quests that cover complementary workflow engineering topics:

1. Workflows of Workflows - Complex workflow architecture and composition
2. Testing with nf-test - Testing strategies for Nextflow workflows
3. Metadata - Handling metadata for items in Nextflow channels
4. Splitting and Grouping - Advanced data processing patterns

Each Side Quest is self-contained and covers independent concepts, but we recommend completing them in the order listed above for a logical progression through the topics.

2.4 How to use this collection¶

First, command-click on the "Open in GitHub Codespaces" button below to launch the training environment in a separate tab, then read on while it loads.

Once your environment is running, work through the collection as follows:

1. In this tab: Navigate to the first Side Quest listed above, which describes step-by-step development exercises.
2. In your Codespaces tab: Work through the exercises for the Side Quest.
3. When you complete a Side Quest, return to this page and navigate to the next one in the list above.
4. When you have completed the collection, click the button below to fill out a very short survey. Your feedback allows us to continue improving the training materials for everyone.

Ready to begin? Start with the first module above!