ABSTRACT
In this introductory chapter, we present the basics of using Python, focusing on the most frequently used libraries (SymPy, NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib). We discuss the various data types, variables and sequences, and give examples of functions, loops and conditional statements. We show how to use functions and methods, and how to work with NumPy arrays using indexing and slicing. We introduce the Matplotlib library and how to set up 2D and 3D graphics. Finally we give examples of symbolic evaluations using SymPy and how to use the lambdify function in Python.
