What is Python and Why Python?

Python is commonly referred to as a scripting language since it makes the automation of command-line tasks very simple, but it is becoming popular for both large and small cross-platform programming jobs since it is quick and easy to write functional code with very little overhead.

The Fluids Group may be interested in Python for the following reasons:

• Freely available Numerical and Scientific Computing packages (e.g., NumPy and SciPy).
• Automate model runs and test cases during code development.
• Almost trivially combined with other programming languages (C, Fortran, etc.).
• Wealth of other third party APIs written for things like visualization software (e.g., VisIt), pre-existing I/O frameworks like NetCDF, Matlab and so on.

Learn more at http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/what_is_python.html.