[SciPy-dev] Accessible SciPy (ASP) project

[Robert Kern]

Alan G Isaac wrote:

> Or, if SciPy provided its own names and
> used its own convention, instead of
> over-riding Numeric (or numarray) names,
> I would also be happy.  Especially if
> SciPy names were readily identifiable
> as such.  (Of course, one can always
> be careful on one's own, but relying on
> users to be careful is generally a bad
> idea when it is avoidable.)

Please stop using the plural. There is precisely one function whose axis 
default gets overridden in this manner, and that is cumsum(). Given that 
there are unittests for it, I can only assume that the override is 
deliberate and chosen with the Numeric incompatibility in mind.

You can still disagree about that decision, but please constrain your 
comments to the specifics: namely, that you think cumsum()'s axis 
argument should default to 0.

My position is that cumsum() should remain as it is, but it and all 
other changes to Numeric's behaviours should be documented. To that end, 
I've started a wiki page.

http://www.scipy.org/wikis/accessible_scipy/NumericCompatibility

-- 
Robert Kern
rkern at ucsd.edu

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
  Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
   -- Richard Harter