Introduction to Python – Basic concepts and data structures

Abstract:
Python is a popular language for scientific computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. This introductory course will walk you through the basics of programming in Python. We will cover the main language features – variables and data types, conditionals, lists, for/while loops, list comprehensions, dictionaries, writing functions, and working with external libraries.

Setup & Software Installation:
This will be a hands-on workshop, so participants need to bring a laptop with Python installed on their device prior to attending the workshop. The easiest way to install Python is to use the Anaconda Distribution https://docs.anaconda.com/free/anaconda/install. An alternative option is to download the official Python distribution from https://www.python.org/downloads.

Presenters:
Marie-Hélène Burle. An evolutionary and behavioural ecologist by training, Software/Data Carpentry instructor, and open source advocate, Marie-Hélène Burle develops and delivers training for researchers on high-performance computing tools (R, Python, Julia, Git, Bash scripting, machine learning, parallel scientific programming, and HPC) for Simon Fraser University and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada.

Alex Razoumov earned his Ph.D. in computational astrophysics from the University of British Columbia and held postdoctoral positions in Urbana-Champaign, San Diego, Oak Ridge, and Halifax. He spent five years as an HPC Analyst in SHARCNET and in 2014 moved back to Vancouver to focus on scientific visualization and training researchers to use advanced computing tools. Alex is currently based at Simon Fraser University.