I am writing to seek clarification on the specific differences between the numpy.trunc() and numpy.fix() functions.
I have come across opinions stating that these two functions exist for backward compatibility and that they serve different functional requirements. However, I am puzzled as to why these functions could not be merged or one of them upgraded to encompass both functionalities. Despite my efforts in researching and contemplating on this matter, I have not come across a convincing explanation.
Could anyone kindly shed some light on this matter? I am seeking a deeper understanding of the design choices made for these functions and the rationale behind their coexistence.
Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.
`fix()` was added to numpy back in the super-early days when it was emerging from Numeric, its earlier predecessor. It was named after the equivalent MATLAB function.
At some point thereafter, we settled on a policy for inclusion of mathematical ufuncs into numpy. We got tired of arguing whether a special function was "important enough" to be in numpy instead of scipy.special. Eventually, we settled on a bright line that if a math function was in the C99 standard, we'd go ahead and allow a ufunc for it in numpy. `trunc()` is the name of that equivalent function in the C99 standard. It is a ufunc instead of a plain function like `fix()` and has a (strict, I believe) superset of functionality. You can ignore `fix()`, more or less. I'm not sure if it's on the list for deprecation/removal in numpy 2.0, but it certainly could be.