[Python-Dev] C Decimal - is there any interest?

[Robert Kern]

Mateusz Rukowicz wrote:
> Grzegorz Makarewicz wrote:
> 
>> Python in high aritmetic - nice, but in standard ? - using computation
>> effective representation as in this "demand" should be put as *must*
>> have ? in standard python ? - decimal with it's speed is sufficient - if
>> U need more speed use more spohisticated data structures - numpy/scipy
>> ... - I dont like those additions to python standard.
>>
> First of all C Decimal isn't meant to be substitute to numpy in any way.
> Second of all, I don't think numpy/scipy is an alternative to Decimal -
> it is more complicated, and I am not even sure if it supports Decimal
> arithmetic (which is crucial for financial application ie.).
> 
> [I couldn't find on google whether scipy supports decimal arithmetic, so
> I assumed it doesn't because of name '*scientific* tools for python'.
> However, if it supports - ignore following text block]

You are right. We have no tools in numpy or scipy for decimal arithmetic. The
focus of numpy is arrays. This decimal module is complementary to numpy and vice
versa.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco