[SciPy-dev] Numpy/Cython Google Summer of Code project idea

[John Ollinger]

Fernando,

When I wrap a C package I spend 95% of my time modifying the package to run
as a library and 5% of the time hand-wrapping it for python.  I find that
hand-wrapping makes me more aware of the interface than using swig, so I can
recode portions of the library to make the overall package work better.  A
quick look at the cyrex documentation makes me wonder if it is primarily
written for those who haven't written much C-code..  Is this an accurate
impression?  I don't want to spend time learning another set of syntax to do
something I already know how to do.

John

On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 12:15 PM, Fernando Perez <fperez.net at gmail.com>
wrote:

>  Hi all,
>
>  after the Scipy/Sage Days 8 meeting, we were all very impressed by the
>  progress made by Cython.  For those not familiar with it, Cython:
>
>  http://www.cython.org/
>
>  is an evolved version of Pyrex (which is used by numpy and scipy) with
>  lots of improvements.  We'd like to position Cython as the preferred
>  way of writing most, if not all, new extension code written for numpy
>  and scipy,  as it is easier to write, get right, debug (when you still
>  get it wrong) and maintain than writing to the raw Python-C API.
>
>  A specific project along these lines, that would be very beneficial
>  for numpy could be:
>
>  - Creating new matrix types in cython that match the cvxopt matrices.
>  The creation of new numpy array types with efficient code would be
>  very useful.
>
>  - Rewriting the existing ndarray subclasses that ship with numpy, such
>  as record arrays,  in cython.  In doing this, benchmarks of the
>  relative performance of the new code should be obtained.
>
>
>  Another possible project would be the addition to Cython of syntactic
>  support for array expressions, multidimensional indexing, and other
>  features of numpy.  This is probably more difficult than the above, as
>  it would require fairly detailed knowledge of both the numpy C API and
>  the Cython internals, but would ultimately be extremely useful.
>
>
>  Any student interested in this should quickly respond on the list;
>  such a project would likely be co-mentored by people on the Numpy and
>  Cython teams, since it is likely to require expertise from both ends.
>
>  Cheers,
>
>  f
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-- 
John Ollinger
University of Wisconsin
Waisman Center, T233
1500 Highland Ave
Madison, WI 53711
http://brainimaging.waisman.wisc.edu/~jjo/
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