[Matrix-SIG] Re: blitz++ vs. NumPy?

[Konrad Hinsen]

> numerical packages appear that make use of it. And, FWIW, eliminate a lot of
> code we have to maintain/debug. It is easier to wrap than create, ne? And
> NumPy will have to be rewritten, and soon, if it is to be maintainable.

How much of the current NumPy code could be eliminated if NumPy were
to use Blitz as much as possible? The Python interface to arrays would
have to remain, I suppose, as well as the ufunc module. That's the
majority of the core code; maybe the indexing stuff could be simpler,
perhaps even a lot. The additional modules (LinearAlgebra, FFT, etc.)
are already small wrappers around existing libraries.

And what would be the consequences of a change to Blitz for C
extensions that use arrays? Would it still be possible to interface
with code using traditional C/Fortran style arrays? Would it be
possible to do so without knowing C++? What would happen to people
whose C++ compiler is not (yet?) suitable for Blitz? According to
their Web page, that's still the majority of platforms.

I don't want to leave the impression of wanting to block progress, but
I write and distribute code that is supposed to be used and modified
by today's real-life scientists. I can't expect them to get a
particular compiler (or perhaps even a new machine) to use my code,
and I can't expect them to learn C++.
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Konrad Hinsen                            | E-Mail: hinsen@cnrs-orleans.fr
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