ADVANCED PYTHON FEATURES
Jennifer E. Houle, Dennis M. Sullivan · 2019
This chapter explores some of the more advanced Python features. It demonstrates alternatives to that code to take advantage of the fact that Python has many useful tools in the standard library. The chapter also explores classes, overall structure, and interactive widgets to create good user-interfaces. These are just some of the features which make Python a useful programming language for simulations. The class is a blueprint for creating objects and a fundamental building block in Python. A class is used to logically group data and functions that may operate on that data, which can also allow simplification of code and increase the readability. In some cases, the programmer may want to make a program anyone can use with minimal instruction, and Python can create a comprehensive program with interactivity. Interactive widgets include text inputs, buttons, radio buttons, check buttons, and rectangle select, among others. The chapter provides basic information on matplotlib interactive widgets.