[IPython-dev] notebook questions
Jason Grout
jason-sage at creativetrax.com
Tue Sep 20 19:22:50 EDT 2011
On 9/20/11 2:28 PM, Fernando Perez wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 6:27 AM, Jason Grout
> <jason-sage at creativetrax.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Whereas in Sage, a worksheet .sws file is more like the entire directory
>> containing code to be executed, supporting files, etc.
>
> Yes, and there's an important reason behind this difference: for us,
> being able to type
>
> ls
>
> in a notebook and still getting the 'real' directory listing is very
> important. The notebook is controlling a regular ipython kernel that
> works just like the cmd-line ipython, with direct access to local
> files, the ability to %run scripts, etc. We wanted this lightweight,
> your-filesystem-is-still-yours model because it's a very natural
> worfklow when analyzing data and working with local files. In
> contrast, Sage uses the filesystem for its own execution model, with
> temporary directories created for cell execution. This means that
> ls/os.listdir('.') shows this internal filesystem structure.
>
> There are many benefits for Sage with this approach and it's certainly
> a valid one, but for our use cases and for fitting naturally with the
> command-line ipython, we went with our model instead, that leaves the
> filesystem/cwd unmodified, and where a notebook is just one more file
> sitting in your working directory.
>
> I hope this clarifies things somewhat.
Perfect. There are important use-cases for both scenarios. I'm glad
ipython fills this role.
Thanks,
Jason
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