Python has become increasingly popular within the last few years among scientists. In the astrophysics community in particular, where IDL is still by far dominant, python is now a very serious free, beautiful, reliable and efficient competitor. Learning Python, numpy and matplotlib isn’t difficult and I definitely recommend switching from IDL. I hope the following links will be helpful.>/p>
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Python tuto/links
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Dive into python
: Good book (also available in french !) -
Python scripting for computational science (ebook PDF)
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AstroPython
: tons of ressources for astro-python-geeks -
Numpy for IDL users
: Essential “translation” guide to switch to Python from IDL : to print and stick on your wall ! -
Astropy
: Python library for astronomy -
Sunpy
: Solar physics tools -
SpacePy
is a python library for space data analysis