extending with C

[Chris Barker]

Alex Martelli wrote:

> Some would choose to use Numpy arrays instead.

Yup. I was about to suggest that.

> However, Numpy is a
> separate (and largish) package, while module array is part of any
> Python distribution, so, unless there's something else arrayish that
> you need to do, I don't think Numpy is "better" in this context.

Alex is right. If all you need to do is pass a 1-d "array" of floats to
a C extension, the standard array module would be just fine, and perhaps
easier than NumPy.

However, it is highly unlikely that you are doing enough with a large
enough array of floats that you need a C extension, and NOT doing
anything else that would benefit from NumPy. In fact, if you are writing
this C extension to get performance (rather than interface with existing
code), you may very well not need it you were to use NumPy. It's well
worth checking out.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy

-Chris


-- 
Christopher Barker,
Ph.D.                                                           
ChrisHBarker at attbi.net                ---           ---           ---
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