[ANN] PyDSTool 0.88 -- dynamical systems modeling tools

[Rob Clewley]

A new release of the dynamical systems modeling toolbox PyDSTool is
available from Sourceforge:
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/pydstool/

Highlights from the release notes:

 * Cleanup of global imports, especially: entire numpy.random and
linalg namespaces no longer imported by default
 * Added support for 'min' and 'max' keywords in functional
specifications (for ODE right-hand sides, for instance)
 * Optimization tools from third-party genericOpt (included with
permission) and improved parameter estimation examples making use of
this code
 * Numerical phase-response calculations now possible in PRC toolbox
 * Fully-fledged DSSRT toolbox for neural modeling (see wiki page)
 * New tests/demonstrations in PyDSTool/tests
 * Major improvements to intelligent expr2func (symbolic -> python
function conversion)
 * Improved compatibility with cross-platform use and with recent
python versions and associated libraries
 * Added many minor features (see timeline on Trac
http://jay.cam.cornell.edu/pydstool/timeline)
 * Fixed many bugs and quirks (see timeline on Trac
http://jay.cam.cornell.edu/pydstool/timeline)

This is mainly a bugfix release in preparation for a substantial
upgrade at version 0.90, which will have a proper installer, unit
testing, symbolic expression support via SymPy, and greatly improved
interfacing to legacy ODE integrators. These features are being
actively developed in 2009/2010.

For installation and setting up, please carefully read the
GettingStarted page at our wiki for platform-specific details:
http://pydstool.sourceforge.net

Please use the bug tracker and user discussion list at Sourceforge to
report bugs or provide feedback. Code and documentation contributions
are always welcome.

Regards,
Rob Clewley