[Numpy-discussion] Trying out Numeric3

[Travis Oliphant]

Michiel Jan Laurens de Hoon wrote:

> Arnd's comment raises the question of how to try out or contribute to 
> Numeric3 if the code base is changing from day to day. It may be a 
> good idea to set up some division of labor, so we can contribute to 
> Numeric3 without getting in each other's way. For example, I'd be 
> interested in working on setup.py and putting different parts of 
> Numeric3/scipy_base together.
>

Michiel, you are free to work on setup.py all you want :-)

Putting the parts of scipy_base together is a good idea.   Exactly how 
to structure this is going to require some thought and need to be 
coordinated with current scipy.

I want a package that is as easy to install as current Numeric (so the 
default will have something like lapack_lite). 

But, this should not handicap nor ignore a speed-conscious user who 
wants to install ATLAS or take advantage of vendor-supplied libraries.

There should be a way to replace functionality that is clean and does 
not require editing setup.py files.

Anybody with good ideas about how to do this well is welcome to speak 
up.   

Perhaps, the easiest thing to do is to keep the basic Numeric structure 
(with C-based easy-to-install additions) and call it scipylite  (with 
backwards compatibility provided for Numeric, LinearAlgebra, 
RandomArray, and MLab names).  This also installs the namespace scipy 
which has a little intelligence in it to determine if you have altas and 
fortran capabilities installed or not.

Then, provide a scipyatlas package that can be installed to take 
advantage of atlas and vendor-supplied lapack/blas.

Then, a scipyfortran package that can be installed if you have a fortran 
compiler which provides the functionality provided by fortran libraries. 

So, there are three divisions here. 

Feedback and criticisms encouraged and welcomed.....

-Travis