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

[Yoon, Hoon (CICG - NY Program Trading)]

I don't know why we can't have 2 Numerical packages, when we have several
GUI choices. More the better. I suppose that people can upgrade or choose
gradually.

While we have better indexing, can we also have missing-values in arrays?
Sorry to keep bringing this up, but it's major importance to my work.
I also have minor problem, when 1/2 does not come back with 0.5.I just use
float for everything. I get NaN as missing and 1.0/2.0 always returns 0.5.
Frankly, this is way some Stat packages do it anyway. I don't think it would
be solved by Blitz, but mentioning it anyway.

**************************************************************
S. Hoon Yoon                   (Quant)                    Merrill Lynch
Equity Trading 
yelled@yahoo.com hoon@bigfoot.com(w)
"Miracle is always only few standard deviations away, but so is
catastrophe."
* Expressed opinions are often my own, but NOT my employer's.
"I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages."    Mauldin
**************************************************************

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Konrad Hinsen 
> Sent:	Tuesday, December 15, 1998 11:13 AM
> To:	dubois1@llnl.gov
> Cc:	matrix-sig@python.org
> Subject:	Re: [Matrix-SIG] Re: blitz++ vs. NumPy?
> 
> > 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++.
> -- 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> Konrad Hinsen                            | E-Mail: hinsen@cnrs-orleans.fr
> Centre de Biophysique Moleculaire (CNRS) | Tel.: +33-2.38.25.55.69
> Rue Charles Sadron                       | Fax:  +33-2.38.63.15.17
> 45071 Orleans Cedex 2                    | Deutsch/Esperanto/English/
> France                                   | Nederlands/Francais
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Matrix-SIG maillist  -  Matrix-SIG@python.org
> http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/matrix-sig