.. _python_requirements:

Requirements
=============

Core
-----

These requirements need to be fullfilled:

- Python v2.7
- IPython v0.11 or higher
- Numpy v1.6 or higher
- Scipy v0.9 or higher
- Matplotlib v1.2 or higher

You can check if they are fullfilled by downloading :download:`this test script <test_installation.py>`,
and running it in a terminal::
    
    $:> python test_installation.py
    Your Python version is up-to-date
    Package IPython is installed and up-to-date
    Package matplotlib is installed and up-to-date
    Package numpy is installed and up-to-date
    Package scipy is installed and up-to-date
    All tests passed successfully

Optional
---------

The following packages are helpful if you start using Python in real applications.
Please refer to the documentation of these packages if you are interested in
using them.

- `asciitable <http://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/contrib/asciitable/>`_: read and write ASCII tables
- `pyfits <http://www.stsci.edu/institute/software_hardware/pyfits>`_: read and write FITS files
- `pywcs <https://trac.assembla.com/astrolib>`_: interface to FITS world coordinate system
- `h5py <http://www.h5py.org>`_: read and write HDF5 files
- `ATpy <http://atpy.github.io/>`_: read and write tables in various formats
- `APLpy <http://aplpy.github.io/>`_: plot FITS files with matplotlib
- `pymc <http://pymc-devs.github.io/pymc/>`_: MCMC package
- `emcee <http://dan.iel.fm/emcee/>`_: MCMC package
- `lmfit <http://http://cars9.uchicago.edu/software/python/lmfit/>`_: nonlinear fitting (wrapper around scipy)