How to access Python for doing scientific computing

Hans Petter Langtangen [1, 2]

[1] Center for Biomedical Computing, Simula Research Laboratory
[2] Department of Informatics, University of Oslo

Mar 23, 2015

A comprehensive eco system for scientific computing with Python used to be quite a challenge to install on a computer, especially for newcomers. This problem is more or less solved today. There are several options for getting easy access to Python and the most important packages for scientific computations, so the biggest issue for a newcomer is to make a proper choice. An overview of the possibilities together with my own recommendations appears next.

Much of the material in this document is taken from Appendix H.1 in the book A Primer on Scientific Programming with Python, 4th edition, by the same author, published by Springer, 2014.

Read »