Software
Some of the home work problems require that you to complete a Python script, and then submit a result of your calculation. In order to be able to use these programs, you need Python and some of the common scientific libraries (NumPy, SciPy, matplotlib) .
We recommend that you install Anaconda Python.
Installing SciPy stack on your machine
See SciPy instructions for your system. This page has specific commands for installing SciPy stack on most common distros.
Some repositories may have older versions of the NumPy, SciPy, and/or, matplotlib. To make sure that you have the most recent version, use pip to update packages:
pip install --upgrade PackageName
Do read the comments in exercise Python scripts even if you are writing your own code - they complement the exercise text.