[Numpy-discussion] np.{bool,float,int} deprecation

[Aaron Meurer]

Regarding np.bool specifically, if you want to deprecate this, you
might want to discuss this with us at the array API standard
https://github.com/data-apis/array-api (which is currently in RFC
stage). The spec uses bool as the name for the boolean dtype.

Would it make sense for NumPy to change np.bool to just be the boolean
dtype object? Unlike int and float, there is no ambiguity with bool,
and NumPy clearly doesn't have any issues with shadowing builtin names
in its namespace.

Aaron Meurer

On Sat, Dec 5, 2020 at 4:31 PM Juan Nunez-Iglesias <jni at fastmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> At the prodding [1] of Sebastian, I’m starting a discussion on the decision to deprecate np.{bool,float,int}. This deprecation broke our prerelease testing in scikit-image (which, hooray for rcs!), and resulted in a large amount of code churn to fix [2].
>
> To be honest, I do think *some* sort of deprecation is needed, because for the longest time I thought that np.float was what np.float_ actually is. I think it would be worthwhile to move to *that*, though it’s an even more invasive deprecation than the currently proposed one. Writing `x = np.zeros(5, dtype=int)` is somewhat magical, because someone with a strict typing mindset (there’s an increasing number!) might expect that this is an array of pointers to Python ints. This is why I’ve always preferred to write `dtype=np.int`, resulting in the current code churn.
>
> I don’t know what the best answer is, just sparking the discussion Sebastian wants to see. ;) For skimage we’ve already merged a fix (even if it is one of dubious quality, as Stéfan points out [3] ;), so I don’t have too much stake in the outcome.
>
> Juan.
>
> [1]: https://github.com/scikit-image/scikit-image/pull/5103#issuecomment-739334463
> [2]: https://github.com/scikit-image/scikit-image/pull/5103
> [3]: https://github.com/scikit-image/scikit-image/pull/5103#issuecomment-739368765
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