The FSU HPC now has an installation of Python 2.6.5, including numerous supporting packages, on every log-in and compute node.

Python is a general purpose programming language used around the world for coding desktop and web applications, scripting, and more. Version 2.6 currently represents the most widely used and supported version of the language for add on packages and libraries. Python is becoming an increasingly popular choice among scientists and researchers for post-processing, plotting, and 'glue' scripting. In some cases, it may even be used as the primary language for model programming.

Highlights of the list of included packages are:

• Numpy: BLAS/LAPACK based array library
• Scipy: Collection of general purpose scientific routines
• Matplotlib: Powerful plotting library
• Biopython: Collection of routines for Computational Biology
• MySQLdb / Psycopg2: Database connectivity libraries
• MPI4PY: OpenMPI bindings

More information about the HPC installation of Python, including how to access it upon logging in, is available on the HPC Python 2.6 software page. Future efforts to enhance this resource for the FSU HPC community include the installation of graphical toolkits (e.g. wxPython and PyQT) and providing the IPython shell for interactive parallel computing. Additional documentation and workshops covering topics such as extension programming with Cython and MPI programming with mpi4py are being developed.