[SciPy-dev] Ideas for scipy.sparse?

[Ondrej Certik]

On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 10:11 AM, Robert Cimrman <cimrman3 at ntc.zcu.cz> wrote:
> Hi Brian,
>
>
>  Brian Granger wrote:
>  > So, I am currently implementing a distributed memory array package for python:
>  >
>  > http://projects.scipy.org/ipython/ipython/browser/ipythondistarray
>  >
>  > The goal is to have distributed/parallel arrays that look and feel
>  > just like numpy arrays.  Here is an example:
>
>  Very nice!
>
>
>  > Obviously, my first though was scipy.sparse.  I am _really_ excited
>  > about the massive improvements that have been happening in this area
>  > recently.  Here are the problems I am running into:
>  >
>  > 1) I need N-dimensional sparse arrays.  Some of the storage formats in
>  > scipy.sparse (dok, coo, maybe lil) could be generalized to
>  > N-dimensions, but some work would have to be done.
>  >
>  > 2) I need these things to be in numpy.  I hate to start another
>  > "should this go into numpy or scipy" thread, but I actually do think
>  > there is a decent case for moving the core sparse arrays into numpy
>  > (not the solvers though).  Please hear me out:
>  >
>  > a) Numpy at its core is about arrays.  Conceptually, sparse arrays fit
>  > into this narrow vision of Numpy.
>  >
>  > b) Sparse arrays are just as foundational as dense arrays in many
>  > areas of computing/science (I would argue, that they are more
>  > foundational than ffts and random numbers).
>  >
>  > c) Moving the core sparse arrays into numpy would increase their
>  > visibility and encourage other projects to rely on them.
>  >
>  > d) It would not make numpy more difficult to build.
>  >
>  > e) It is currently somewhat confusing that they are not in numpy
>  > (remember Numpy = arrays).
>
>  You can add f) Having sparse arrays in numpy would greatly improve
>  unifying the two worlds. There have been tons of questions why this or
>  that numpy function do not work for a sparse matrix, when in <plug in a
>  popular commercial system> it works seamlessly.

I think we should first get them working at least in scipy + scikits first.

Ondrej