[Numpy-discussion] Synonym standards

[Benjamin Root]

On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 7:12 PM, Robert Kern <robert.kern at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 12:05 AM, Colin J. Williams
> <cjwilliams43 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 26/07/2012 4:57 PM, Benjamin Root wrote:
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 26, 2012 at 4:45 PM, Colin J. Williams <fn681 at ncf.ca> wrote:
> >>
> >> It seems that these standards have been adopted, which is good:
> >>
> >> The following import conventions are used throughout the NumPy source
> and
> >> documentation:
> >>
> >> import numpy as np
> >> import matplotlib as mpl
> >> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
> >>
> >> Source:
> >> https://github.com/numpy/numpy/blob/master/doc/HOWTO_DOCUMENT.rst.txt
> >>
> >> Is there some similar standard for PyLab?
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> Colin W.
> >>
> >
> >
> > Colin,
> >
> > Typically, with pylab mode of matplotlib, you do:
> >
> > from pylab import *
> >
> > This is essentially equivalent to:
> >
> > from numpy import *
> > from matplotlib.pyplot import *
> >
> > Note that the pylab "module" is actually a part of matplotlib and is a
> > shortcut to provide an environment that is very familiar to Matlab users.
> > Converts are then encouraged to use the imports you mentioned in order to
> > properly utilize python namespaces.
> >
> > I hope that helps!
> > Ben Root
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > NumPy-Discussion mailing list
> > NumPy-Discussion at scipy.org
> > http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/numpy-discussion
> >
> > Thanks Ben,
> >
> > I would prefer not to use:  from xxx import *,
> >
> > because of the name pollution.
> >
> > The name  convention that I copied above facilitates avoiding the
> pollution.
> >
> > In the same spirit, I've used:
> > import pylab as plb
>
> But in that same spirit, using np and plt separately is preferred.
>
>
"Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!"
from http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0020/

Absolutely correct.  The namespace pollution is exactly why we encourage
converts to move over from the pylab mode to separating out the numpy and
pyplot namespaces.  There are very subtle issues that arise when doing
"from pylab import *" such as overriding the built-in "any" and "all".  The
only real advantage of the pylab mode over separating out numpy and pyplot
is conciseness, which many matlab users expect at first.

Cheers!
Ben Root
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