Putting the Fun in Function: How Python Makes Me a Better Scientist and Teacher (Invited Presentation)

I’ll be honest with you: I’m not a classically trained programmer. I’ve taken only a handful of courses on computer methods, all of which spent far more time on scientific applications than best code practices. My ability to nudge computers toward executing my will stems from countless hours of trial, error, and Google searches. I tried Java, Fortran, NCL, and MATLAB. Then, during the last year of my Ph.D., I gave Python a shot. I began my Python journey with short scripts and inefficient solutions, terrible variable names and code failures caused by Python’s zero-based indexing. Nearly seven years later, I automatically generate real-time GOES-16 imagery via Python. I estimate hurricane intensity using only infrared satellite data. I perform statistical analyses. I create content for homework assignments and take-home exams. I craft figures for scientific manuscripts and social media. I maintain a central repository of Python functions I’ve written to use across a range of projects. I save time with parallel processing. And there’s still so much more I can learn. In this presentation, I’ll share both highlights and pitfalls from my Python journey as well as a sample of the numerous ways atmospheric scientists apply Python.