[SciPy-dev] can I help with the docs?

[Andrew Hawryluk]

Good question. I'll let you know what I was thinking, and then you can
tell me if I've misunderstood the documentation objectives.

Each year I train a new set of engineering internship students in our
department, and one of the things they learn is Python.  Upon arriving
here they have taken a single course on C++ and another on
Matlab/Mathematica/Excel etc., but no Python.  I usually start them off
reading "Dive Into Python", but I'd also like a single place to send
them to get a brief tour of proper NumPy use.  The main NumPy & SciPy
docs are excellent (and improving rapidly), but they start a bit too
abruptly for my needs. For example, the NumPy User Guide currently start
with installation instructions, and then the next page of body text is a
table of all the available array types.

I would like something that briefly explains what NumPy and SciPy are,
and why/when arrays are better than lists/dicts, perhaps followed by a
brief tour of some common NumPy tricks, before diving into the more
detailed sections.

One possible table of contents would be

Introduction
  What is NumPy?
  Building/Installing
  Short Tour
  How to find documentation
NumPy Basics
  ...

What direction were you thinking the User Guide would take?

Andrew

 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: scipy-dev-bounces at scipy.org [mailto:scipy-dev-bounces at scipy.org]
> On Behalf Of David Goldsmith
> Sent: 11 Aug 2009 1:16 PM
> To: SciPy Developers List
> Subject: Re: [SciPy-dev] can I help with the docs?
> 
> Hi, Andrew, and thanks for your offer to help.  Can you be more
> specific vis-a-vis what you have in mind?
> 
> David Goldsmith, Technical Editor
> Olympia, WA
> 
> --- On Tue, 8/11/09, Andrew Hawryluk <HAWRYLA at novachem.com> wrote:
> 
> > From: Andrew Hawryluk <HAWRYLA at novachem.com>
> > Subject: [SciPy-dev] can I help with the docs?
> > To: scipy-dev at scipy.org
> > Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 12:10 PM I'd like to help with the
> > docs project. I have registered a user name of ahawryluk on the
Wiki.
> > Although the current focus is cleaning up the docstrings on the
numpy
> > module, I'm most interested in writing some introductory material
for
> > the NumPy User Guide.
> >
> > Andrew Hawryluk
> > NOVA Chemicals Research & Technology Centre Calgary, Canada
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Scipy-dev mailing list
> > Scipy-dev at scipy.org
> > http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/scipy-dev
> >
> 
> 
> 
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