3. Getting Started with Python

In the previous chapter, we made casual references to Python in several places, assuming the reader was already familiar with the basics. The author’s aim was to dive right into scientific computing to give the reader a taste of the field. With that out of our way now, this chapter aims to provide a refresher course to Python for all beginners. We will cover all the different concepts and language traits that will be used throughout in later chapters. This chapter is intentionally agnostic to a particular operating system or text editor, as these things are always in flux and everyone has different preferences.