MATLAB2Python

[John Hunter]

>>>>> "Robert" == Robert Kern <rkern at ucsd.edu> writes:

    Robert> Do you mind a hefty download? If not, then try Enthought's
    Robert> distribution of Python[1]. matplotlib seems to have an exe
    Robert> installer for Windows, so I assume it's straightforward.

    Robert> But, in short, that order is correct (the last three all
    Robert> depend on Numeric).

    Robert> [1] http://www.enthought.com/python/

Seconded - that is what I recommend on the matplotlib web site for
windows users - enthought then matplotlib.  See the windows section on
http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/installing.html.  enthought will
give you numeric and scipy (and VTK which is awesome for 3D) and
almost all of matplotlib will work out of the box with enthought on
windows.

matplotlib supports different GUI environments.  On windows tkagg or
wxagg are the natural choices and they come with enthought.  On a
modern linux box, gtkagg is a natural choice, but may require you to
upgrade your pygtk (grkagg also runs great on windows but require a
couple of extra packages).  Switching between backends on different
platforms is mainly seamless - your matplotlib scripts are unchanged
and the navigation controls are the same.  The choice is made in a
configuration file
http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/faq.html#MATPLOTLIBRC See
http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/backends.html and
http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/faq.html#WHICHBACKEND for details.

As for install order on linux, something like

  python2.2 or later
  a python GUI (wxpython, tkinter, or pygtk)
  numeric or numarray 
  scipy (optional)
  matplotlib   # set the numerix var to reflect your numarray/numpy choice

matplotlib provides a numeric/numarray compatibility interface
(written by Todd Miller, one of lead numarray developers) so you can
work with either numeric or numarray transparently.  Be forewarned
that scipy uses numeric so you may want to go with this if you plan on
using scipy heavily.

JDH