Programming languages work by telling your computer to perform specific tasks. Python is a highly human-readable programming language and it requires software to “translate” commands so that they can be understood and carried out by a computer (making them machine-readable, or machine code). For Python, this “translation” software is called an interpreter.
If you are unable to install or access Python on your computer’s operating system, use web-based Python interpreters for many basic operations instead.
Python's capabilities are extended to meet the needs of myriad users with third-party supplemental modules, libraries, packages, and frameworks. Some examples:
Python is a popular general-purpose, object-oriented, open-source programming language. It has numerous applications across a number of fields, and is commonly used for web development, scientific computing, statistics and data science, software development, education, and business. It can also be a powerful tool to facilitate scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.
Python is often described as relatively easy to learn, particularly for people who do not have any prior experience with programming languages. Many resources are available to help you get started, practice your skills, figure out solutions to any problems you encounter, and find help and guidance when you need it.
Penn Libraries has negotiated a campus-wide premium license for Dataquest, the scaffolded online learning platform with a full catalog of interactive courses; skill paths such as data visualization, machine learning, and data scraping and career paths using Python, R, PowerBI, and Tableau. You learn by doing, completing exercises and getting immediate feedback directly in the browser.
To activate your premium account, please complete the form below. Alternatively, you can complete the form using this link.
Click here to find more recent Python resources and publications in the Penn Libraries catalog.
Appointments are available with our statistics software consultant for R, Stata, SPSS, and Python. Make an appointment via the Penn Libraries Technology Consultation Appointment page : select "Stata, R and Other Statistical Software" for available appointments.
Interested in learning more about Python? Check out upcoming workshops and events!
