[Matrix-SIG] A full blown interactive data analysis environment. (resent)

[Travis E. Oliphant]

> We'd then pick one to use and
> write what we needed to get it to interface well.  That might be a
> SWIG wrapper or a piece of C/C++ code that translated the data to our
> interchange formats. 

To try and be precise, so that we understand each other, explain what
more we would do than what I did in producing the cephesmodule and the
fftw module, besides put them together into one package and write better
documentaion?

If that is the basic idea, just bigger scale and more packages,  than
let's go do it, I'm in.

Perhaps a good way to get this going is to take FFTW or cephes which
I've already got into a useable form and discuss what changes to make to
make them fit better into the desired scheme.  For that matter we could
start with LAPACK and see what could be done there.  It would help me,
if someone could clarify what is wrong (if anything) with the way all of
these libraries are currently used with Python.  (Is it just that they
don't all come in one big tar file and use individual-style make files
rather than one big one?)

As for packages we need at least these as far as I see (let's get the
list rolling):

FFT  (my vote is for FFTW)
LinearAlgebra
Random Numbers
Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEPACK?)
Integration (QUADPACK?)
Optimization (I know there's something on netlib)
Root finding (Equation solving)
Filter package (remez exchange algorithm, low level linear iir or fir
filter function, etc.) (I've got something like this in development).

Graphics and plotting:  This will be the problem I fear for
cross-platform.  How about we get going and talk about this one once we
have the Numerics happening....maybe something will surface elsewhere in
the meantime?

I vote for help written in LaTeX and translated to TeXinfo and HTML.

But again, it is also critical that we have some sort of interactive
help system implemented for the package to be useful to the novice.

Looking for feedback and someone to blow the whistle :-)

--Travis

P.S.  We really need to set up a CVS server somewhere and get going on
the code development.  That way we could actually have code to comment
to each other on instead of just ideas.  I've never set up CVS before. 
Could we get some space at the Starship and set it up there.  Alas, I
don't have a PSA membership at the moment...