>> I'd say we should go with compatibility. >> Todd Script: a=[[i+i*j for i in range(5)]for j in range(4)] print a[2:4][5:7] import Numeric b=Numeric.array(a) print b[2:4,5:7] import numarray c=numarray.array(a) print c[2:4,5:7] Output: [] zeros((2, 0), 'l') [] fwiw, Alan Isaac