Python in Computational Science: Applications and Possibilities

This paper focuses on the role of python in dramatic increase in productivity and high-level of code reuse in computational science. The salient features of python make it an ideal language for scientific computing exposing the shortcomings of legacy languages and prototyping platforms. Python provides a rich collection of built-in data types such as strings, lists, dictionaries; dynamic typing and dynamic binding, modules, classes, exceptions handling, automatic memory management, multiprocessing, parallel computing capabilities. Python can also be used as a glue language to wrap around existing static compiled code to obtain optimum performance. The uptrend of adopting python as a general purpose language along with its vast collection of scientific libraries are also reviewed in this paper, which ensures the long term presence of python and its growing user base in the foreseeable future.