[Numpy-discussion] which module to use

[Travis Oliphant]

Christian Meesters wrote:

> Hi
>
> Numarray and Numeric are great modules. I was using them a lot in my 
> scripts. But now the time has come that I would like to write a 
> somewhat bigger application and perhaps even need to write extensions 
> for one of the numerical modules or Scipy.
> Now, I'm wondering which module to choose: Numarray (my preferred 
> choice so far), Numpy, or "Numeric3"? How far is the latter grown with 
> respect to the other two? How soon will it replace Numpy in SciPy 
> releases? How long will all three co-exist, when will the merger be 
> finished? How long will Numarray and Numpy be supported once Numeric3 
> "is ready"?
>
As I've reiterated I won't support NumPy once Numeric3 is ready, but 
others may, so it's hard to give definitive answers like that. 

> Squeezed into one question: What is the state of the art and how can 
> people like me (at the borderline between users and developers) plan 
> ahead?

This unfortunately has been a problem for a long time.   The "state of 
the art" has been a mixed bag for a while.

I have been trying to push scipy as a package which makes the choice of 
numarray and/or Numeric  not a big deal for some time.   So, of course, 
I would suggest using scipy which currently uses Numeric (though parts 
of it can also use numarray).  Recent versions of Numarray and Numeric 
do not copy data between the arrays so you can really use Numeric for 
scipy internals and numarray arrays on the outside.  

Within a few months, scipy will be moving towards what used to be called 
Numeric3 (the package is now called scipy.base).   So, if you stick with 
scipy you will be using the latest (notice that current scipy adds a few 
of the features of Numarray already (like 1-d integer indexing and 
non-scalar coercion). 

So, on the python side I would use scipy calls.

On the C-side, I would use the old NumPy C-API whenever possible.

Good luck,


-Travis O.