SciPy

 

What is SciPy?

SciPy is a scientific computation library that uses NumPy underneath.

SciPy stands for Scientific Python.

It provides more utility functions for optimization, stats and signal processing.

Like NumPy, SciPy is open source so we can use it freely.

SciPy was created by NumPy's creator Travis Olliphant.

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Why Use SciPy?

If SciPy uses NumPy underneath, why can we not just use NumPy?

SciPy has optimized and added functions that are frequently used in NumPy and Data Science.

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Which Language is SciPy Written in?

SciPy is predominantly written in Python, but a few segments are written in C.

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Where is the SciPy Codebase?

The source code for SciPy is located at this github repository https://github.com/scipy/scipy

github: enables many people to work on the same codebase.

SciPy Getting Started

Installation of SciPy

If you have Python and PIP already installed on a system, then installation of SciPy is very easy.

Install it using this command:

C:\Users\Your Name>pip install scipy

If this command fails, then use a Python distribution that already has SciPy installed like, Anaconda, Spyder etc.

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Import SciPy

Once SciPy is installed, import the SciPy module(s) you want to use in your applications by adding the from scipy import module statement:

from scipy import constants

Now we have imported the constants module from SciPy, and the application is ready to use it:

Example

How many cubic meters are in one liter:

from scipy import constants

print(constants.liter)

constants: SciPy offers a set of mathematical constants, one of them is liter which returns 1 liter as cubic meters.

You will learn more about constants in the next chapter.

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Checking SciPy Version

The version string is stored under the __version__ attribute.

Example

import scipy

print(scipy.__version__)

Note: two underscore characters are used in __version__.