Python

Python is a remarkably powerful dynamic programming language that is used in a wide variety of application domains. Python is often compared to Tcl, Perl, Ruby, Scheme or Java. See http://www.python.org/about.

Availability on Wesley

The base operating system on wesley comes with a fairly old version of python and with a fairly limited set of included packages. If this is sufficient for your needs then simply run python to start it.

For those who need a newer python or who need Numpy, SciPy or one of a number of scientific computing libraries and packages that use Python we have an academic license for the Enthought Python Distribution (EPD) version 7.2.2. EPD contains python 2.7.2 integrated with over 100 libraries and tools.

To use EPD python first load the module as follows:

module load EPD

After the module is loaded running python will invoke the new version. For example:

wesley$ module load EPD
wesley$ python
Enthought Python Distribution -- www.enthought.com
Version: 7.2-2 (64-bit)

Python 2.7.2 |EPD 7.2-2 (64-bit)| (default, Jul 3 2011, 15:17:51)
[GCC 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-44)] on linux2
Type "packages", "demo" or "enthought" for more information.
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