[long and fussy] But what do these operators _mean_?

[Travis Oliphant]

> > - >Quick summary:  Maybe there needs to be a numerics-sig before any 
> > - >of these changes are adopted...
> >So how do we get one started? 
> 
> Good question.  Any volunteers?

The discussion list at SourceForge for Numeric Python is a perfect place
for these discussions. 

> I would still think that's mainly caused by matlab's monolithic nature.
> Python with its clean namespace separation would greatly minimize this risk.
> 
> Here's my idea of "grand unification of numerical computation in python" :-)
> 
> There are many packages that implement various numerical routines.  They are
> closely related to lapack, linpack, eispack, cephes or whatever names their
> underlying fortran or C packages have.   
> 
> There are also several interface packages, which implements the interfaces
> that emphasize multiarray or matrix algebra or other specific conveniences
> like sparse matrices, etc.
> 
> They are designed in such a way that users can easily assemble numerical
> pacakges that has given guaranteed performance with desirable interface.
> The advantage of separation of implementation from interface is that it
> gives much more choices to the users without increasing the load on
> developers. 
> 
> There can be also one or two assembled packages for dummies-only, with the
> easiest interface and most foolproof implementation.
> 
> How's that for a long term project?  :-)
> 

This is THE SAME long term project that PyLab represents (it is only a
loose collection of packages at http://oliphant.netpedia.net at the
moment due to my time constraints).  In a broader context,
NumPy was written with this express purpose in mind --- adding
mathematical toolboxes to Python.  Peauru Peterson and Paul Dubois both
wrote automatic Fortran parsing tools to help in this work.  

If we are really going to attract developers, I'd argue we need toolboxes
and easy help documentation, over specific syntax.  People can get over
at-first-awkward syntax easily, but it's a harder sale when you keep
having to tell them that they will have to "roll-their-own" solution to
implement this or that functionality.

-Travis