Other useful computational tools for physics and math?

[oddball_matt]

Hi. I am aware that Fortran, Mathlab and Mathematica are used somewhat extensively in physics. Due to some technical and administrative problems I was unable to return to the labs to learn any of the three stated above during the long break. I only have limited access and would have to use the labs of other faculties. Are there any other programs or physics/math softwares that are worth learning and mastering?

Thank you.

 

[KonstantinosS]

Java is extensively used in various projects in research, especially in Physics and engineering. Other than that i think C++ might be useful. In my opinion, you should concetrate on Fortran, Mathematica and Java.

Good luck,

 

[physiker_192]

My suggestion would be Python, since its a scripting language (simple syntax). Python is however not intended for large scale codes especially if speed/performance is a critical issue (C++ & FORTRAN would be much faster then).

If you want to have an idea of the speed differences between the different languages:

http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/ You can try Python's SciPy/NumPy, since the software is essentially free, and it has some close resemblance to MATLAB syntax.

If you're running Windows, then you can get Python and all the relevant packages in a single installation: http://www.pythonxy.com

or if you're running Linux, then you need the following packages:
ipython #an improved python interpreter
python-numpy
python-scientific
python-matplotlib #provides visualization capability


Basic Python tutorial: http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/Python (stick with python 2.x for the beginning)
SciPy: http://www.scipy.org/Getting_Started

A good & simple IDE (integrated development environment) for both Linux & Windows
is IEP: http://code.google.com/p/iep/

Python XY already has an IDE (Spyder)

 

[oddball_matt]

Thanks KonstantinosS and physiker_192. I am familiar with C++ since I took the course recently and am planning to improve my skills. I'll look into both options. Thanks a lot!