Page - (000005) - in Programming for Computations – Python - A Gentle Introduction to Numerical Simulations with Python

Preface Computing, in thesenseofdoingmathematical calculations, is a skill thatmankind has developed over thousands of years. Programming, on the other hand, is in its infancy, with a history that spans a few decades only. Both topics are vastly comprehensive and usually taught as separate subjects in educational institutions around the world, especially at the undergraduate level. This book is about the combinationof the two,becausecomputingtodaybecomessomuchmorepowerful whencombinedwithprogramming. Most universities and colleges implicitly require students to specialize in com- puter science if theywant to learn the craft of programming, since other student programsusuallydonotofferprogramming to anextent demandedfor reallymas- teringthiscraft. Commonargumentsclaimthat it is sufficientwithabrief introduc- tion, that there isnotenoughroomfor learningprogramminginaddition toallother must-havesubjects,andthat thereissomuchsoftwareavailablethatfewreallyneed toprogramthemselves. Aconsequence is that engineering students oftengraduate with shallow knowledge about programming, unless they happened to choose the computer sciencedirection. We think this is anunfortunatesituation. There isnodoubt thatpracticingengi- neersandscientists need toknowtheirpenandpapermathematics. Theymust also beable to runoff-the-shelf software for important standard tasks andwill certainly do that a lot. Nevertheless, thebenefitsofmasteringprogrammingaremany. Whylearnprogramming? 1. Ready-madesoftware is limited tohandlingcertainstandardproblems.Whatdo you dowhen the problem at hand is not covered by the software you bought? Fortunately, a lot ofmodern software systems are extensible via programming. In fact,manysystemsdemandparts of theproblemspecification (e.g.,material models) tobe specifiedbycomputercode. 2. With programming skills, youmay extend the flexibility of existing software packagesbycombining them. Forexample,youmayintegratepackages thatdo notspeaktoeachotherfromtheoutset. Thismakestheworkflowsimpler,more efficient, andmore reliable, and it putsyou inposition toattacknewproblems. v