Wondering in the Python Forrest

[ray]

I am new to Python and am learning for engineering and scientific
use. For some reason, which I don’t remember, I went to Scipy.org
downloaded the module. I am sure it had explained things but that was
a couple weeks ago and it’s all a blur. So now I am working in
Pythonxy. One of my activities is to work with data from Excel. I
found the cvs reader and started researching its use. I found that
structured data could be presented in Python using a module in
wxPython.

Where am I? I do not know the relationships between the Pythons. I
feel that I am missing something. I started with Python as it has so
much functionality and a huge user group of very helpful individuals
and sites. Now that I have delved deeper, it seems I need different
Pythons.

I would like to understand how to use all this functionality,
logistically. If I have a series of tasks to perform, do I open a
session in one, read in data from a source, manipulate it, write it
out, open another Python type, read in the manipulated data, perform
other actions, write it out, close that and then open another to
display? Is there a more coherent way to do this?

I would appreciate any help in better understanding how to use all
these tools.

Thanks,
Ray

 

[Ken Watford]

I found that structured data could be presented in Python using a module in
wxPython.

Where am I?  I do not know the relationships between the Pythons.  I
feel that I am missing something.  I started with Python as it has so
much functionality and a huge user group of very helpful individuals
and sites.  Now that I have delved deeper, it seems I need different
Pythons.

I think the name has caused you some confusion. wxPython is not a
different Python, it's a package for Python that displays GUI
components using the C++ "wxWidgets" library.

While there are other Pythons out there, for scientific work you
should have everything you need in the one you've got. You may have to
install an additional package now and then, but that's it.

 

[Terry Reedy]

I am new to Python and am learning for engineering and scientific
use. For some reason, which I don’t remember, I went to Scipy.org
downloaded the module. I am sure it had explained things but that was
a couple weeks ago and it’s all a blur. So now I am working in
Pythonxy. One of my activities is to work with data from Excel. I
found the cvs reader and started researching its use. I found that
structured data could be presented in Python using a module in
wxPython.

Where am I? I do not know the relationships between the Pythons. I
feel that I am missing something. I started with Python as it has so
much functionality and a huge user group of very helpful individuals
and sites. Now that I have delved deeper, it seems I need different
Pythons.

I would like to understand how to use all this functionality,
logistically. If I have a series of tasks to perform, do I open a
session in one, read in data from a source, manipulate it, write it
out, open another Python type, read in the manipulated data, perform
other actions, write it out, close that and then open another to
display? Is there a more coherent way to do this?

I would appreciate any help in better understanding how to use all
these tools.

'Python' is a language with multiple versions. Python2.x is the older
series, but still in use Python3.x is the newer series of versions.
Pythonx.y is a particular version.

CPython is the main *implementation* of Python. It comes with a standard
library of modules that you can import. Other people provide other
modules and packages of modules that you can import.

Numpy is a package for numerical computation with multi-dimensional
arrays. Scipy is a package for scientific computation that uses numpy.

There are several packages for adding a graphical user interface to a
program. WxPython is one of those. It is the Python wrapper for the
wxwidgets library. It is not a 'python' in itself.

Terry