ABSTRACT
Recent advances in life sciences and computational sciences have led the way to the application of computational techniques in uncovering answers to pertinent questions in the field of life sciences. The overlap between these fields demands that a life sciences researcher must learn to speak the language of computers and understand biological questions in the context of a computational problem. Python is a freely available, general-purpose programming language that is easily comprehensible by a novice programmer and is highly efficient for performing diverse computing tasks. In this chapter, we will provide an introduction to Python basics, syntax, and concepts concerning life sciences. This chapter will guide the reader step by step through Python programming starting from the installation step and familiarize the readers with the Anaconda distribution software - which provides libraries, packages, and editors (e.g. Jupyter Notebook) that are needed for Python development and gets the readers accustomed with various programming terminologies and the types of errors that are often raised whenever the Python interpreter encounters errors.
