[SciPy-user] Re: Partial Derivatives

[R. Padraic Springuel]

I know its been a while since I last brought this up (Vol 19, Issue 1), 
but after some digging, I've discovered Scientific.Functions.Derivatives 
(it came with the Enthought Edition of python that I use).  It defines a 
DerivVar type that works well for taking derivatives of functions, 
supporting partial derivatives (even cross partials) very well.  I 
haven't fully tested the limits of its accuracy, but some basic tests 
show it to be at least as accurate as the top level derivative function 
in scipy.  Perhaps instead of trying to modify derivative (and 
central_diff_weights) it'll be easier in future versions of scipy to 
include this type and raise it to the top level.

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R. Padraic Springuel