[Python-Dev] Product function patch [issue 1093]

[Steven H. Rogers]

Guido van Rossum wrote:
> I still don't see why the standard library needs to be weighed down
> with a competitor to numpy. Including a subset of numpy was considered
> in the past, but it's hard to decide on the right subset. In the end
> it was decided that numpy is too big to become a standard library.
> Given all the gyrations it has gone through I definitely believe this
> was the right decision.
A competitor to NumPy would be counter-productive, but including a core 
subset in the standard library that NumPy could be built upon would add 
valuable functionality to Python out of the box.  It was probably the 
best decision to not include NumPy when it was previously considered, 
but I think it should be reconsidered for Python 3.x.  While defining 
the right subset to include has it's difficulties, I believe it can be 
done.  What would be a reasonable target size for inclusion in the 
standard library?

# Steve