Intro to Python

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• Python is an interpreted language which was originally designed to " appeal to Unix/C hackers".
  • It is currently the "glue" in scientific computation.
  • It is a major tool in sytems administration.
  • It is outstanding for rapid prototyping.
• Python has a vast library of add on features available.
  • Numpy for numerical computation.
  • scipy in general for scientific computataions.
  • Many different graphing packages.
  • Twisted is an outstanding IPC package.
• Python has been through three versions
  • Versions 1 and 2 are mostly compatable.
  • Version 3 (CS 2008) is not backwards compatable
• Making the choice can be difficult
  • I have a bunch of python 2 code I need to convert some day :(
  • But Fedora has finally switched to python 3.
  • It depends on the libraries you are using
  • But both are usually installed on most systems.
• Python2 is what is installed on cslab101, both are on the other machines.
  • For our exploration it won't make that mutch difference.
• A major goal was readablitiy.
  • This was a reaction to obscure schell scripts for ((expr;expr;expr)); do expr done
• You can run the interpreter or in a script
• Basically, if you know C/C++ you can python.
  • You use indentation to mark code blocks.
  • ; are optional, but it doesn't yell at you if you put them in
  • print much like the shell in python 2
  • print() in python 3
  • I highly reccomend the Python Tutorial
  • Look at first.py