Programming for Computations - Python

This book is published open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book presents computer programming as a key method for solving mathematicalproblems. This second edition of the well-received book has been extensively revised: All code is nowwritten in Python version 3.6 (no longer version 2.7). In addition, thetwo first chapters of the previous edition have been extended and split up into fivenew chapters, thus expanding the introduction to programming from 50 to 150 pages.Throughout the book, the explanations provided are now more detailed, previous examples have beenmodified, and new sections, examples and exercises have been added. Also, a number of small errors have been corrected. The book was inspired by the Springer book TCSE 6: A Primer on ScientificProgramming with Python (by Langtangen), but the style employed is more accessible andconcise, in keeping with the needs of engineering students. The book outlines the shortest possible path from no previous experience withprogramming to a set of skills that allows students to write simple programs forsolving common mathematical problems with numerical methods inthe context of engineering andscience courses. The emphasis is on generic algorithms, clean program design, the useof functions, and automatic tests for verification.