[Numpy-discussion] Numerical Recipes (for Python)?

[Anne Archibald]

On 2 June 2010 00:33, Wayne Watson <sierra_mtnview at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Subject is a book title from some many years ago, I wonder if it ever
> got to Python? I know there were C and Fortran versions.

There is no Numerical Recipes for python. The main reason there isn't
a NR for python is that practically everything they discuss is already
implemented as python libraries, and most of it is in numpy and/or
scipy. (Their algorithms are also not suitable for pure-python
implementation, but that's a whole other discussion.)

I should also say that while NR is justifiably famous for its
explanations of numerical issues, its code is not under a free license
(so you may not use it without the authors' permission) and many
people feel it has many bugs. The algorithms they discuss are also not
always the best available.

I generally recommend that people doing scientific programming read
all or part of NR to understand the algorithms' limitations but then
use the implementations available in
numpy/scipy/scikits/IRAF/whatever.

Anne

> --
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