Scientific Computing with Python 3

Claus Fuhrer, Jan Erik Solem, Olivier Verdier

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781786463517
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Data Modelling & Design
• Index: Computer Science

An example-rich, comprehensive guide for all of your Python computational needs

About This Book

• Your ultimate resource for getting up and running with Python numerical computations
• Explore numerical computing and mathematical libraries using Python 3.x code with SciPy and NumPy modules
• A hands-on guide to implementing mathematics with Python, with complete coverage of all the key concepts

Who This Book Is For

This book is for anyone who wants to perform numerical and mathematical computations in Python. It is especially useful for developers, students, and anyone who wants to use Python for computation. Readers are expected to possess basic a knowledge of scientific computing and mathematics, but no prior experience with Python is needed.

What You Will Learn

• The principal syntactical elements of Python
• The most important and basic types in Python
• The essential building blocks of computational mathematics, linear algebra, and related Python objects
• Plot in Python using matplotlib to create high quality figures and graphics to draw and visualize your results
• Define and use functions and learn to treat them as objects
• How and when to correctly apply object-oriented programming for scientific computing in Python
• Handle exceptions, which are an important part of writing reliable and usable code
• Two aspects of testing for scientific programming: Manual and Automatic

In Detail

Python can be used for more than just general-purpose programming. It is a free, open source language and environment that has tremendous potential for use within the domain of scientific computing. This book presents Python in tight connection with mathematical applications and demonstrates how to use various concepts in Python for computing purposes, including examples with the latest version of Python 3. Python is an effective tool to use when coupling scientific computing and mathematics and this book will teach you how to use it for linear algebra, arrays, plotting, iterating, functions, polynomials, and much more.

Style and approach

This book takes a concept-based approach to the language rather than a systematic introduction. It is a complete Python tutorial and introduces computing principles, using practical examples to and showing you how to correctly implement them in Python. You'll learn to focus on high-level design as well as the intricate details of Python syntax. Rather than providing canned problems to be solved, the exercises have been designed to inspire you to think about your own code and give you real-world insight.

Scientific Computing with Python 3

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Scientific Computing with Python 3

Copyright © 2016 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the authors, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: December 2016

Production reference: 1141216

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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Birmingham

B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78646-351-7

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Credits

Authors Claus Führer Jan Erik Solem Olivier Verdier	Copy Editor Vikrant Phadkay Sneha Singh
Reviewers Helmut Podhaisky	Project Coordinator Nidhi Joshi
Commissioning Editor Veena Pagare	Proofreader Safis Editing
Acquisition Editor Sonali Vernekar	Indexer Mariammal Chettiyar
Content Development Editor Aishwarya Pandere	Graphics Disha Haria
Technical Editor Karan Thakkar	Production Coordinator Arvindkumar Gupta

About the Authors

Claus Führer is a professor of scientific computations at Lund University, Sweden. He has an extensive teaching record that includes intensive programming courses in numerical analysis and engineering mathematics across various levels in many different countries and teaching environments. Claus also develops numerical software in research collaboration with industry and received Lund University’s Faculty of Engineering Best Teacher Award in 2016.

Jan Erik Solem is a Python enthusiast, former associate professor, and currently the CEO of Mapillary, a street imagery computer vision company. He has previously worked as a face recognition expert, founder and CTO of Polar Rose, and computer vision team leader at Apple. Jan is a World Economic Forum technology pioneer and won the Best Nordic Thesis Award 2005-2006 for his dissertation on image analysis and pattern recognition. He is also the author of "Programming Computer Vision with Python" (O'Reilly 2012).

Olivier Verdier began using Python for scientific computing back in 2007 and received a PhD in mathematics from Lund University in 2009. He has held post-doctoral positions in Cologne, Trondheim, Bergen, and Umeå and is now an associate professor of mathematics at Bergen University College, Norway.

About the Reviewer

Helmut Podhaisky works in the Institute of Mathematics at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, where he teaches mathematics and scientific computing. He has co-authored a book on numerical methods for ordinary differential equations as well as several research papers on numerical methods. For work and fun, he uses Python, Fortran, Octave, Mathematica, and Haskell.

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Acknowledgement

We want to acknowledge the competent and helpful comments and suggestions by Helmut Podhaisky, Halle University, Germany. To have such a partner in the process of writing a book is a big luck and chance for the authors.

We would also like to express our gratitude towards the reviewers of the first edition of this book, [7], Linda Kann, KTH Stockholm, Hans Petter Langtangen, Simula Research Laboratory, and Alf Inge Wang, NTNU Trondheim.

A book has to be tested in teaching. And here we had fantastic partners: the teaching assistants from the course "Beräkningsprogramering med Python" during the years a...

Table of contents

• Scientific Computing with Python 3