.. include:: ../../global.inc
.. _Simple_Tutorial:


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A simple tutorial: 8 steps to *Ruffus*
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Table of Contents
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============
Features
============

The **Ruffus** provides automatic support for
 
        * Managing dependencies
        * Parallel jobs
        * Re-starting from arbitrary points, especially after errors
        * Display of the pipeline as a flowchart
        * Reporting


    | This tutorial has seven steps which cover all the core functionality of *Ruffus*.
    | Don't worry if steps 1 and 2 seem a bit slow: Once you get used to **Ruffus**
      steps 4-8 will be a breeze.
    
    You can click on "previous" and "next" at the top and bottom of each page to
    navigate through the tutorial.
    
    
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The first steps (1-4)
============================

    The first half of the tutorial will show you how to:
        
    .. toctree::
        :maxdepth: 1
    
        1. Chain tasks (functions) together into a pipeline <step1_follows>
        2. Provide parameters to run jobs in parallel <step2_files>
        3. Tracing through your new pipeline <step3_run_pipeline>
        4. Using flowcharts  <step4_run_pipeline_graphically>
    
============================
A worked example (steps 5-8)
============================

    The second half of the tutorial is a worked example to calculate 
    the sample variance of 10,000 random numbers. This shows you how to:
               
    .. toctree::
        :maxdepth: 1
        
        5. Split up a large problem into smaller chunks<step5_split>
        6. Calculate partial solutions in parallel <step6_transform>
        7. Re-combine the partial solutions into the final result <step7_merge>
        8. Automatically signal the completion of each step of our pipeline <step8_posttask>


    This covers the core functionality of *Ruffus*.