Fortran vs Python - Newbie Question

[Robert Kern]

Alex Martelli wrote:
> Nomad.C at gmail.com <Nomad.C at gmail.com> wrote:
>    ...
>>> So I'ld suggest to start with downloading the Enthought edition of Python,
>>> and you can judge for yourself within 10 minutes,
>>> if it's fast enough.
>>>
>>> cheers,
>>> Stef Mientki
>> Is there a mac version??
> 
> <http://download.enthought.com/MacEnthon/ReadMe.html> but it's self
> labeled as "0.1 Test Release" i.e. somewhat preliminary; it claims to
> support only Panther (10.3) and its 2.3.0 Python (no claims for Tiger,
> 10.4, and its 2.3.5 Python, nor for other Python Mac istalls yet).

It no longer exists, in fact. I don't know why the readme still exists, too.

> If you're just trying to learn and check things out, it might be better
> to get a more recent Python from python.org (2.5 or 2.4.4) and the
> various other packages as and when you need them (you can use the
> MacEnthon list as a guide:-).  You'll need a C compiler to be sure you
> can install any package from sources -- Apple's XCode includes gcc, it's
> free, and it's the safest choice (but it's a HUGE download, as it comes
> with a lot of stuff -- I don't think Apple offers a simple way to
> install "just" gcc and minimal supporting tools).

Here are some more instructions for building the usual suspects: numpy, scipy,
VTK, PIL, ipython, matplotlib.

  https://svn.enthought.com/enthought/wiki/IntelMacPython25

-- 
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