[Numpy-discussion] Introduction to Scott, Jason, and (possibly) others from Enthought

[Travis Oliphant]

Hi everyone,

There has been some talk about re-factoring NumPy to separate out the  
Python C-API layer and make NumPy closer to a C-library.   I know  
there are a few different ideas about what this means, and also that  
people are very busy.  I also know there is a NumPy 2.0 release that  
is in the works.

I'm excited to let everyone know that we (at Enthought) have been able  
to find resources (about 3 man months) to work on this re-factoring  
project and Scott and Jason (both very experienced C and Python  
programmers) are actively pursuing it.    My hope is that NumPy 2.0  
will contain this re-factoring (which should be finished just after  
SciPy 2010 --- where I'm going to organize a Sprint on NumPy which  
will include at least date-time improvements and re-factoring work).

While we have specific goals for the re-factoring, we want this  
activity to be fully integrated with the NumPy community and Scott and  
Jason want to interact with the community as much as feasible as they  
suggest re-factoring changes (though they both have more experience  
with phone-conversations to resolve concerns than email chains and so  
some patience from everybody will be appreciated).

Because Jason and Scott are new to this mailing list (but not new to  
NumPy),  I wanted to introduce them so they would feel more  
comfortable posting questions and people would have some context as to  
what they were trying to do.

Scott and Jason are both very proficient and skilled programmers and I  
have full confidence in their abilities.   That said, we very much  
want the input of as many people as possible as we pursue the goal of  
grouping together more tightly the Python C-API interface layer to  
NumPy.

I will be involved in some of the discussions, but am currently on a  
different project which has tight schedules and so I will only be able  
to provide limited "mailing-list" visibility.

Best regards,

-Travis