[Pythonmac-SIG] How well does Python really work on the Mac?

[Lou Pecora]

I've been looking into trying Python as a RAD/experimental tool for
numerical programming and scientific work and all of you have been very
helpful so far.

I do have some reservations though and it seems to me that Python use is a
bit convoluted in that to use something like Numerical Recipes I have to
fire up my C compiler (codewarrior - very nice), write an interface for the
Python module to use the special routine (say eigenvalue function), make a
C-module (can CW do this?), make it available to Python.

Have any of you done this?  Is it easy, hard, transparent, entangled?  I
like what I see in the language very much and would love to jump in, but
this "gotcha" keeps me worrying that the conneciton to standard numerical
routines in C or those I would write in C for speed would be fragile -- we
are depending on someone's writing the library for those Py_ calls right?

Sorry for being so worrisome, but learning a new language is a big
investment.  I'm really hoping for good answers 'cause I'd love to take the
plunge.

Thanks for your help.



Cheers,

Lou Pecora