Why Python for this Course?

With all that said, I have chosen to use Python in this course, for several reasons. Firstly, it is quickly becoming one of the most widely used languages in modern science, generally, and it is being picked up in greater and greater numbers each year within kinesiology as well. In addition, it is one of the most, if not the most, widely used programming language in non-academic data science applications (i.e., industry), so it will serve you well in the future whether you extend your academic career or decide to go into industry, health care, government, etc. Secondly, it is an extremely well-designed language, with syntax and structure that many find much easier to understand than other high-level languages, like R or Matlab. Thirdly, it is an open-source language, meaning that it is free to obtain and use. This is also true of R, and indeed most widely-used programming languages, but MATLAB is closed-source: it is developed and sold by The Mathworks, a private company. While UBC pays for a site license that allows all students and staff to use it, this is still a potential limitation for you in the future, and it is also inconsistent with a core principle of this class, which is to use and promote open-source tools and resources as much as possible.

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This section was adapted from Aaron J. Newman’s Data Science for Psychology and Neuroscience - in Python.