[Numpy-discussion] Advice on converting Numarray C extension?

[Charles R Harris]

On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 3:03 PM, Russell E. Owen <rowen at u.washington.edu>wrote:

> I have an old Numarray C extension (or, rather, a Python package
> containing a C extension) that I would like to convert to numpy
> (in a way that is likely to be supported long-term).
>
> Options I have found include:
>
> - Use the new numpy extension. This seems likely to be fast and
> future-proof. But I am finding the documentation slow going. Does anyone
> know of a simple example (e.g. read in an array, create a new array)?
>
> - Use the Numarray compatible C API. Simple (and takes advantage of the
> nice Numarray tutorial example for documentation), but will this be
> supported in the long term?
>
> - Switch to ctypes. Simple in concept. But I'm wondering if I can get
> distutils to build the resulting package.
>
> - Use SWIG. I have some experience with it, but not with numpy arrays.
>
> - Use Cython to replace the C code. No idea if this is a long-term
> supported package.
>
> Another option is to try to rewrite in pure python. Perhaps the numpy
> indexing is sophisticated enough to allow an efficient solution. The C
> extension computes a radial profile from a 2-d masked array:
>  radProf(r)= sum of all unmasked pixels at radius r about some
> specified center index
> I can easily generate (and cache) a 2-d array of radius index, but is it
> possible to use that to efficiently generate the desired sum?
>
> Any opinions?
>

How big is the extension and what does it do?

Chuck
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