[Numpy-discussion] Making NumPy accessible to everyone (or no-one) (was Numpy-discussion Digest, Vol 19, Issue 44)

[Stéfan van der Walt]

On 10/04/2008, Alexander Michael <lxander.m at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 6:55 AM, Stéfan van der Walt <stefan at sun.ac.za> wrote:
>  > Hi Joe, all
>  >
>  >  On 10/04/2008, Joe Harrington <jh at physics.ucf.edu> wrote:
>  >  > > Absolutely.  Let's please standardize on:
>  >  >  > import numpy as np
>  >  >  > import scipy as sp
>  >  >
>  >  >  I hope we do NOT standardize on these abbreviations.  While a few may
>  >  >  have discussed it at a sprint, it hasn't seen broad discussion and
>  >  >  there are reasons to prefer the other practice (numpy as N, scipy as
>  >  >  S, pylab as P).
>  >
>  >  "N" is a very unfortunate choice of abbreviation, given that so many
>  >  algorithms use it to indicate the number of elements in things.  "np"
>  >  is much safer and, like Jarrod mentioned, also only takes two keys to
>  >  type.  Sebastian, a simple regexp replace should fix your problem
>  >  (investment in hundreds of lines of N.* usage).
>
>
> Hey! I use np *all the time* as an abbreviation for "number of points".

Is that the de-facto abbreviation used for number of pts in your field
(i.e. in literature)?  If so, I'd recommend you stick to N :)

Cheers
Stéfan