Intel Distribution for Python

[Terry Reedy]

On 5/10/2016 11:12 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:
> On Wed, May 11, 2016 at 12:00 PM, beliavsky--- via Python-list
> <python-list at python.org> wrote:
>> The Intel Distribution for Python 2017 Beta https://software.intel.com/en-us/python-distribution is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS for Python 2.7 and 3.5.
>>
>> "The Beta product adds new Python packages like scikit-learn, mpi4py, numba, conda, tbb (Python interfaces to Intel® Threading Building Blocks) and pyDAAL (Python interfaces to Intel® Data Analytics Acceleration Library). The Beta also delivers performance improvements for NumPy/SciPy through linking with performance libraries like Intel® MKL, Intel® Message Passing Interface (Intel® MPI), Intel® TBB and Intel® DAAL."
>>
>> I just installed Intel Python today. Has anyone tried it? Does it run your programs faster than the usual CPython?
>>
>
> I haven't used it, but based on a reading of their blurbs, I suspect
> you won't see any significant improvement in base Python code - the
> advantage is the numeric computation work.

All their benchmarks are heavy numeric computation.

> For general Python performance, check out PyPy, although it tends to
> lag behind CPython in versions somewhat. However, PyPy doesn't do
> anything for your numpy performance, and doesn't even guarantee that
> everything works:
>
> http://pypy.org/download.html#installing-numpy
>
> So if the Intel Math Kernel Library lives up to the descriptions, it
> might be the thing to fill in this gap - "use PyPy to speed up your
> Python code, or Intel Python to speed up your numpy code". (Most
> programs won't have performance issues on both of those at once.)
>
> It's worth noting that Intel engineers have been proposing a number of
> performance improvements for backporting into the CPython core, and
> some of them even made it into 2.7. I've no idea whether the page you
> linked to is part of the same project or not; it might be completely
> separate, or it might be the source of all those improvements.

I presume it is all related.  What I find interesting is that Intel 
thinks it will be more profitable to be involved in numerical 
computation driven by python than not to.



-- 
Terry Jan Reedy