[Numpy-discussion] Time for beta1 of NumPy 1.0

[Keith Goodman]

On 6/29/06, Alan G Isaac <aisaac at american.edu> wrote:
> On Thu, 29 Jun 2006, Travis Oliphant apparently wrote:
> > Please make any comments or voice major concerns
>
> A rather minor issue, but I would just like to make sure
> that a policy decision was made not to move to a float
> default for identity(), ones(), zeros(), and empty().
> (I leave aside arange().)
>
> I see the argument for a change to be 3-fold:
> 1. It is easier to introduce people to numpy if
>    default data types are all float.  (I teach,
>    and I want my students to use numpy.)
> 2. It is a better match to languages from which
>    users are likely to migrate (e.g., GAUSS or
>    Matlab).
> 3. In the uses I am most familiar with, float is
>    the most frequently desired data type.  (I guess
>    this may be field specific, especially for empty().)

I vote float.