Is Python for me?

Python is free in terms of license. Documentation is widely available, and many Python online community groups are available, where one can turn in times of doubt. Because it is free and open source, anyone can easily view or modify the algorithms in order to adapt to customized solutions.

Being accessible to the public opens a whole new level of opportunities. Anyone can contribute existing enhancements or create new modules. For advanced users, interoperability between different programming languages is supported. A Python interpreter may be embedded in C and C++ programs. Likewise, with the appropriate libraries, Python may be integrated with other languages not limited to Fortran, Lisp, PHP, Lua, and more.

Python is available on all major operating systems, such as Windows, Unix, OS/2, Mac, among others.

Python as a general-purpose, high-level programming language allows the user to focus on problem solving and leave low-level mechanical constructs such as memory management out of the picture.

The expressiveness of the Python programming language syntax helps quantitative developers in implementing prototypes quickly.

Python allows the use of object-oriented, procedural, as well as functional programming styles. Because of this flexibility, it is especially useful in implementing complex mathematical models containing multiple changeable parameters.

By now, you should be familiar with the NumPy, SciPy, matplotlib, statsmodels, and pandas modules, as indispensable tools in quantitative analysis and data management.

Other libraries extend the functionalities of Python. For example, one may turn Python into a data visualization tool with the gnuplot package in visualizing mathematical functions and data interactively. With Tk-based GUI tools such as Tkinter, it is possible to turn Python scripts into GUI programs.

A widely popular shell for Python is IPython, which provides interactive computing and high-performance tools for parallel and distributed computing. With IPython Notebook, the rich text web interface of IPython, you can share code, text, mathematical expressions, plots, and other rich media with your target audience. IPython was originally intended for scientists to work with Python and data.