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Python motivation #623

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Python motivation #623

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working on a python pitch
snacktavish Jul 23, 2014
5ee9d07
ipython image
snacktavish Jul 23, 2014
2d75aab
python pitch, cribbed from sritchie73's R motivational slides
snacktavish Jul 23, 2014
e48b1bf
typos
snacktavish Jul 23, 2014
4940d03
re-organized alternatives
snacktavish Jul 23, 2014
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put image in the correct place
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Merge branch 'master' of github.com:swcarpentry/bc into python-motiva…
snacktavish Jul 23, 2014
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Merge remote-tracking branch 'upstream/master' into python-motivation
snacktavish Sep 11, 2014
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incorporated comments from pull request (finally)
snacktavish Sep 11, 2014
d49d8ec
fixed some sloppy formatting
snacktavish Sep 11, 2014
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changed R content
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updated PyPI numbers
snacktavish Sep 11, 2014
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111 changes: 111 additions & 0 deletions slides/python-pitch.html
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---
layout: slides
title: Why should I use Python?
root: ..
---
<section>
<h1>{{page.title}}</h1>
<aside class="notes">
Hello, and welcome to the Python section of the Software Carpentry bootcamp.
</aside>
</section>

<section>
<h2>Python is...</h2>
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Hi! So, having a list like this is great. But, I wonder if a different order or a different breakdown might allow it to read more like a sentence, and therefore make more sense. Something like:

  • a popular,
  • powerful,
  • easy to learn,
  • programming language,
  • that is human readable,
  • whitespace delimited,
  • free,
  • and open source.

It has a number of excellent libraries for

  • plotting,
  • mathematics,
  • and domain sciences.

Something like that maybe?

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Maybe:

It has a number of excellent libraries for

  • mathematics,
  • plotting,
  • and domain sciences.

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Good ideas! I incorporated them.

<p class="fragment">
a popular and easy to learn scripting language
</p>
<p class="fragment">
a tool to generate figures
</p>
<p class="fragment">
a readable, whitespace delimited, programming language
</p>
<p class="fragment">
<strong>Free!</strong>
</p>
<aside class="notes">
So for those of you who have never encountered Python before, what is it? Python is a programming language which is used to:
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I know what you're saying here, and it's excellent that you want to be sure that totally new folks feel comfortable.

However, I am always a little bothered by sentences that draw people out for their lack of knowledge ("For those of you who don't know JARGON... " has the ring of "How many of you have never heard of JARGON?")

I wonder if we could achieve the same thing without the "for those of you who have never encountered Python before".

Maybe, simply, "So what is Python anyway? Python is a programming language which is used to:"

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Good point!

- develop analysis pipelines
- process and analyse data
- visualise data, and generate publication quality graphics
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visualize

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also, publication-quality needs the hyphen.

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I got britishy in my spellings!

- develop new statistical methods
It is also a free open-source project, making it completely free to download and extend.
</aside>
</section>

<section>
<h2>Tasks that Python could help you do:</h2>
<p class="fragment">
Transform your data files from one arbitrary format to another.
</p>
<p class="fragment">
Analyze image files.
</p>
<p class="fragment">
Loop through all the files in a driectory, perform an analysis on them, and plot the results.
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directory

</p>
<p class="fragment">
<strong>Almost anything!</strong>
</p>
<aside class="notes">
</aside>
</section>

<section>
<h1>Packages</h1>
<p>Contain extensions to the language for specific tasks</p>
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The Python Package Index has 46537 packages that includes some for

  • analyzing biological sequence data,
  • numerical analyses,
  • plotting and much more

<ul class="fragment">
<li>46537 in the Python Package Index</li>
<li>Includes packages for analyzing biological sequence data, numerical analyses, plotting and much more </li>
</ul>
</p>
<aside class="notes">
</aside>
</section>

<section>
<h2>Why Python and not ...</h2>
<p class="fragment">
Perl? <br>
It is easier to read and easier to learn. Also, popularity matters! If Python is what your collaborators are using it, may be a good idea for you to learn it too.
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Misplaced "it".

If Python is what your collaborators are using, it may be a good idea for you to learn it too.

</p>
<p class="fragment">
Javascript or Ruby? <br>
There are good numerical libraries and people are actively developing other packages and tools.
</p>
<p class="fragment">
MATLAB or SAS? <br>
It's free.
</p>
<p class="fragment">
R? <br>
Depends on the task at hand. R has some advantages in statistics and visualization, Python is better at manipulating text and handling big data.
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I'm not sure about this statement.
First, I would say that Python has vastly more options for visualization than R. It's certainly true that you don't have to work as hard to get a plot out of R, but you can't customize ggplot like you can customize matplotlib, yt, etc.

Also, I didn't realize R wasn't good at big data. Is that really true?

Anyway, Python's main advantage over R is that it does more than one thing. Namely, python can effortlessly glue tons of specialized libraries for math, science, graphics, etc. It's a little harder to link to those things with R... largely because people don't develop big libraries for R... just python.

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  • Javascript or Ruby?
  • There are good numerical libraries and people are actively developing other packages and tools.

And folks are certainly writing packages and tools for JavaScript and
Ruby. I think the difference here is just the depth of numerical
libraries, which is likely due to the difference in the ease of
writing C extensions ;).

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@katyhuff I often run into memory issues in R with the same data that I can handle fine in Python- but that may be ebacuse I'm a better python programmer than an R one! I'll fact-check that and add in your comments.

</p>
<aside class="notes">
</aside>
</section>

<section>
<h1>IPython</h1>
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"IPython" -> "IPython Notebook"

<p> An interactive shell for using python</p>
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"python" -> "Python"

<ul class="fragment">
<li>Browser based notebooks to organize and display code </li>
<li>Simplifies data visualization</li>
<li>Makes it easy to share whole analysis pipelines</li>
</ul>
<img src="ipython-notebook.png">
</p>
<aside class="notes">
</aside>
</section>

<section>
<h1>Learn More</h1>
<a href="https://www.python.org/" alt="python.org">https://www.python.org/</a>
<br />
<a href="http://ipython.org/" alt="Link to IPython" class="fragment">http://ipython.org/</a>
<aside class="notes">
</aside>
</section>