[Numpy-discussion] Time for beta1 of NumPy 1.0

[James Graham]

Travis Oliphant wrote:
> Nonetheless, I would support the creation of a module called something 
> like defaultfloat or some-other equally impressive name ;-) which 
> contained floating-point defaults of these functions (with the same 
> names). 

I'd also like to see a way to make the constructors create floating-point arrays 
by default.

> Numeric-24.2 (released Nov. 11, 2005)
> 
> 14275   py24.exe
>  2905    py23.exe
>  9144    tar.gz     
> 
> Numarray 1.5.1 (released Feb, 7, 2006)
> 
> 10272   py24.exe
> 11883   py23.exe
> 12779   tar.gz
> 
> NumPy 0.9.8   (May 17, 2006)
> 
>  3713    py24.exe 
>    558    py23.exe
>  4111    tar.gz
> 
> 
> While it is hard to read too much into numbers, this tells me that there 
> are about 10,000 current users of Numeric/Numarray who have not even 
> *tried* NumPy.  In fact, Numarray downloads of 1.5.1 went up 
> significantly from its earlier  releases. Why is that?   It could be 
> that many of the downloads are "casual" users who need it for some other 
> application (in which case they wouldn't feel inclined to try NumPy).
> 
> On the other hand, it is also possible that many are still scared away 
> by the pre-1.0 development-cycle --- it has been a bit bumpy for the 
> stalwarts who've braved the rapids as NumPy has matured.  Changes like 
> the proposal to move common functions from default integer to default 
> float are exactly the kind of thing that leads people to wait on getting 
> NumPy. 

(just as an aside, a further possibility is the relative availability of 
documentation for numpy and the other array packages. I entirely understand the 
reasoning behind the Guide to NumPy being a for-money offering but it does 
present a significant barrier to adoption, particularly in an environment where 
the alternatives all offer for-free documentation above and beyond what is 
available in the docstrings).

-- 
"You see stars that clear have been dead for years
But the idea just lives on..." -- Bright Eyes