Who is using Python =================== *"Sometimes the middle of the herd is a good place to be."* (In response to the question "Why spend time migrating to Python?" at a Users Committee meeting) That was in 2007 and in the interim Python has become firmly established as the primary scripting language in astronomy. The ease of interfacing C / C++ / FORTRAN means many organizations are using Python user front-ends with a combination of compiled code + Python on the back-end. - Radio / Submm (NRAO, ESO, JAOJ, CSIRO): `CASA `_ - IR: `HIPE `_ (Herschel Interactive Processing Environment) - Optical: `STSci `_ (PyRAF, PyFITS) - Optical: `Gemini IRAF `_ package - new development in Python - Optical: `ESO PyMidas `_ - X-ray: Chandra `CIAO `_ and `Sherpa `_ - Gamma-ray: Fermi `Science Analysis tools `_ Why join the herd? ------------------ Resources, resources, resources! - Discussions and people answering questions - CfA pythonusers mailing list (over 100 subscribers) - `astropython.org `_ - `astropy mailing list `_ - `stackoverflow `_ - Conferences: `SciPy `_ and `EuroSciPy `_ - Tutorials - `SciPy Intro and Advanced tutorials `_ [#]_ - `SciPy astronomy tutorial `_ (144 pages!) - `Dive into Python `_ - ... and many more ... - Lists of resources - `Comfort at 1 AU `_ - `Astropython.org resources `_ - `Astronomical Python `_ - Books: - `Amazon "python science engineering" `_ - `Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional `_ - `Learning Python `_ - ... and hundreds more ... .. [#] I could not untar the "tgz" (tar.gz) version but the "zip" archive was fine. Other sciences -------------- Bioinformatics (computational molecular biology) .. image:: biopython.jpg :scale: 60 As seen at `biopython.org `_. From the SciPy `Topical Software `_ wiki: - Artificial intelligence & machine learning - Bayesian Statistics - Biology (including Neuroscience) - Dynamical systems - Economics and Econometrics - Electromagnetics - Electrical Engineering - Geosciences - Molecular modeling - Signal processing - Symbolic math, number theory, etc.