The use of Python is more than just a language, it takes advantage of the Python ecosystem of the base language plus multiple, concentrated libraries to deliver all computational needs. Python is said to be the easiest and most accessible language for beginners, while still being excellent for the type of interactive and exploratory computations now popular in scientific research. Python supplemented by the Visual package (VPython) has gained power in lower division physics teaching, and this may aid as an excellent transition to a Python-based CP course. The important aspects of computational modeling and thinking exceed any particular computer language, and so having a Python alternative to our previous use of Fortran, C and Java may endorse codes in all languages. The use of a compiled or interpreted programming language when learning CP, in contrast to a higher level problem-solving environment like Mathematica or Maple, which we use in our daily work. This follows from our experiences that if you want to understand how to compute scientifically, then you must look inside a program’s black box and get your hands dirty, otherwise, the algorithms, logic, and validity of solutions are not good physics. We believe all physicists should know how to read programs how to write them as well. This book is no exception to other books on Python.
