Scientific Computing with NumPy

[Tim Hochberg]

mclaugb wrote:
> Is Scipy the same thing as ScientificPython?
> I am confused if SciPy is just the new version.  they appear to be separate 
> things.
> Bryan

No, Scientific Python is "a collection of Python modules that are useful 
for scientific computing" written by Konrad Hinsen. I'm not a user, but 
you can find information here:

	http://starship.python.net/~hinsen/ScientificPython/

SciPy is, I believe, a more recent and more ambitious project. In any 
event it is not directly related to ScientficPython. Information here:

	http://scipy.org/

Both of these packages are built on top of one of the three extant array 
extensions for Python. To try to clear up some of the confusion around 
those, let me summarize the states of these three packages as I 
understand it:

Numeric: This is the origingal array package.

Numarray: This was written as a replacement for Numeric. It has improved 
performance for large arrays. The internals were also simplified and 
many other improvements were made (arrays were subclassable, numeric 
signal handling vastly improved, etc). Unfortunately, a side effect of 
the changes was that small array performance got worse. There was a 
signifigant chunk of the numeric community for whom this was a deal 
breaker and as a result there ended up being a split between the Numeric 
and Numarray communities.

Numpy: This is a rewrite of Numeric that incorporates most of the 
improvements in Numarray. It is designed to bring the two halves of the 
Python numeric community back together. So far, it seems to have gotten 
a positive reception. It is currently at 0.9.4 and I expect a stable 1.0 
version in relatively short order. If I were starting with Python 
numerics, this is where I would start, although I've yet to start 
converting my Numarray based code over.

I hope that sheds some light on this.

regards,

-tim



> 
> "Brendan" <spam4bsimons at yahoo.ca> wrote in message 
> news:1139229403.024321.215780 at o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> 
>>As of version 0.4.x, Scipy exclusively uses the newer NumPy module
>>instead of the older Numeric module.  The confusion is inevitable in
>>this time of transition, but their intent is to standardize on one
>>array package.
>>
>>Brendan
>>--
>>Brendan Simons
>>
>>
>>
>>mclaugb wrote:
>>
>>>This page documents the differences.  It seems that NumPy is supported 
>>>and
>>>more recent.
>>>http://numeric.scipy.org/
>>>
>>>
>>>"linda.s" <samrobertsmith at gmail.com> wrote in message
>>>news:mailman.1482.1139225595.27775.python-list at python.org...
>>>On 2/6/06, mclaugb <mclaugb at nospm.yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Has anyone recompiled the Scientific Computing package using NumPy 
>>>>instead
>>>>of Numeric?
>>>>I need a least squares algorithm and a Newton Rhaphson algorithm which 
>>>>is
>>>>contained in Numeric but all the documentation out there says that 
>>>>Numeric
>>>>is crap and all code should be using NumPy.
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>Bryan
>>>
>>>what is the relationship between Numeric and Numpy?
>>
> 
>