Proposal: add vector arithmetic to array module

[Skip Montanaro]

    >> Which is easier:
    >> 
    >> Adding a bunch of functionality to a standard module.
    >> 
    >> Making a widely used, robust, and powerfull module standard.

    Paul> Generally, adding functionality to an existing module is easier.
    Paul> Especially when, as in the particular functionality we're
    Paul> discussing, it's not really "a bunch".  I don't know if that's the
    Paul> answer you wanted <wink>.

Hmmm...  As I see it, the main problem with extending array is that most
things people would want to see added to array are already there by NumPy,
so in some sense you'd be reinventing the wheel.  Please have a look at
Gordon McMillan's installer.  It works on Windows and Linux and may do what
you want.  A new release came out in the past couple of weeks, so you should
be able to locate it in recent python-list or python-announce archives.

This is not to say that NumPy shouldn't be extended to work with integers or
allow xor operations (I don't know what it does or doesn't do, since I don't
use it).  You may find adding xor and integer capability to NumPy is easier
than adding arrayxarray ops to the array module.  I'm not a sciprog kind of
guy, but a lot of people who are use NumPy and it's getting pretty robust.
It may well be time to (re)visit the question of whether it should be one of
Python's batteries.  Then again, maybe such effort would be better spent
getting the mythical CPyAN implemented. ;-)

-- 
Skip Montanaro (skip at pobox.com)
http://www.mojam.com/
http://www.musi-cal.com/