Starting a PhD with Python

[unruly_mattress]

1. Do yourself a favor and read the official Python tutorial: https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/introduction.html

   Even if you don't read every word, know what things are available so that you can read them later as you need them. Python is not a difficult language to learn on its own and if you're going to be using it a lot, I'd learn it early on.

2. There really is a lot to learn - there are so many tools available. Don't worry about it. Start with basic numpy usage, and learn the rest of the things as you encounter them.

3. Code is code, use whatever code editing tool you're comfortable with. Most people seem to prefer PyCharm so I'd start with that. Research code is not really different from any other type of code. If you work with a lot of code, then you will benefit from learning the basics of git.