Numeric Soup

[Erik Johnson]

I am just starting to explore doing some scientific type data analysis
using Python, and am a little confused by the different incarnations of
modules (e.g., try Google("Python numeric").

There is SciPy, NumPy, NumArray, Numeric... I know some of these are
related and some are separate, some are oudated, etc. but can someone sort
of give a general run-down in layman's terms of what's what, what's used for
what, what depends on what, and what's current?

At this point my interest is just sort of general, fast array
manipulation and DSP.

Thanks!

 

[Robert Kern]

I am just starting to explore doing some scientific type data analysis
using Python, and am a little confused by the different incarnations of
modules (e.g., try Google("Python numeric").

There is SciPy, NumPy, NumArray, Numeric... I know some of these are
related and some are separate, some are oudated, etc. but can someone sort
of give a general run-down in layman's terms of what's what, what's used for
what, what depends on what, and what's current?

http://www.scipy.org/History_of_SciPy

numpy is the current array package and supercedes Numeric and numarray. scipy
provides a bunch of computational routines (linear algebra, optimization,
statistics, signal processing, etc.) built on top of numpy.

--
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
an underlying truth."
-- Umberto Eco

 

[Ene]

I am just starting to explore doing some scientific type data analysis
using Python, and am a little confused by the different incarnations of
modules (e.g., try Google("Python numeric").

There is SciPy, NumPy, NumArray, Numeric... I know some of these are
related and some are separate, some are oudated, etc. but can someone sort
of give a general run-down in layman's terms of what's what, what's used for
what, what depends on what, and what's current?

At this point my interest is just sort of general, fast array
manipulation and DSP.

Thanks!

Numeric was slow at large-arrays, so numarray was born. Well numarray
turned out to be slow at small arrays, so numpy was born. It is trying
to merge Numeric and Numpy together. As it stands Matplotlib does not
support numpy (thus my suggestion to install two of the three - my
choice: numarray + numpy)

 

[Robert Kern]

As it stands Matplotlib does not
support numpy (thus my suggestion to install two of the three - my
choice: numarray + numpy)

matplotlib certainly supports numpy.

--
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
an underlying truth."
-- Umberto Eco

 

[Erik Johnson]

http://www.scipy.org/History_of_SciPy

numpy is the current array package and supercedes Numeric and numarray. scipy
provides a bunch of computational routines (linear algebra, optimization,
statistics, signal processing, etc.) built on top of numpy.

Thank you.

 

[Harry George]

Thank you.

Also see gsl and its python binding.
http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pygsl