2008/8/15 Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com>:
I'm afraid that I still don't understand. Please expand on the
Sorry, it's late. My explanation is probably not too lucid. The variable should rather read something like NUMPY_VIA_API, but here goes.
1) NUMPY_FAST_IMPORT=0 (or simply absent) import numpy print dir(numpy)
Full numpy import, exactly as it is now.
2) NUMPY_FAST_IMPORT=0 import numpy.api print dir(numpy.api)
Numpy.*, exactly as it is now. numpy.api provides a more nested API to NumPy. Import time is the same as current NumPy import.
3) NUMPY_FAST_IMPORT=1 import numpy print dir(numpy)
4) NUMPY_FAST_IMPORT=1 import numpy.api print dir(numpy.api)
numpy.* is now probably close to empty. numpy.api is accessible as before. Import time for numpy.api is now super snappy since numpy.* is not populated. If this is not clear, then I need to sleep and implement a proof of concept before I try to explain further. Cheers Stéfan