ANN: IPython 0.2.5

[Fernando Pérez]

Announcing an update to IPython, an enhanced interactive Python shell. 

WHERE: http://www-hep.colorado.edu/~fperez/ipython

NEW since last public release:

 - Ported to Windows (only tested XP, should be ok elsewhere), including a 
point-n-click installer (text-mode, but functional).

 - Completed user manual (html and pdf).

 - Added ability to run full programs from inside IPython (its tracebacks are 
much better than the standard python's), with command-line args.

 - Macro system for re-executing previous input (multi-line) with named 
macros.

 - Enhanced object introspection system to report class constructors 
docstrings and function signatures.

 - Updates for small changes with Python 2.2 and unicode.

 - Many small enhancements and bugfixes.


What is IPython? (this is just for context. See the webpage for full 
details). IPython tries to:

1. Provide an interactive interpreter superior to Python's default. IPython 
has many features for object introspection, shell access, and its own special 
command system for adding functionality when working interactively.

2. Serve as an embeddable, ready to use interpreter for your own programs. 
IPython can be started with a single call from inside another program, 
providing access to the current namespace. This can be very useful both for 
debugging purposes and for situations where a blend of batch-processing and 
interactive exploration are needed.

3. Offer a flexible framework which can be used as the base environment for 
other systems with Python as the underlying language. Specifically scientific 
environments like Mathematica, IDL and Mathcad inspired its design, but 
similar ideas can be useful in many fields.


Portability: Linux (and other unices, including Mac OSX), Windows XP. Should 
run fine on all WinNT, and probably also on Win9x (I can't test that).

Python version: requires 2.1 or newer.

License: LGPL (a few files from third parties carry MIT licenses).

Cheers,

Fernando Perez.