[Numpy-discussion] Response to PEP suggestions

[konrad.hinsen at laposte.net]

On 19.02.2005, at 14:44, Colin J. Williams wrote:

>> 2) Compatibility with existing code. I am not sure I will convert my   
>> code to such conventions any time soon, because it requires  
>> inspecting  every single indexing operation in its particular context  
>> to see if the  index could be a rank-0 integer array. There is no way  
>> to spot those  cases by textual analysis. So this change could reduce  
>> acceptance to  the point where there is no interest in pursuing the  
>> project any more.
>>
> I thought that the intent of Numeric 3 was to produce the best - a new  
> start, without being overly concerned about compatibility.

It all depends on where "overly" starts.

Let's be pragmatic: the majority of potential Numeric 3 users will be  
the current users of Numeric and numarray. If they don't accept Numeric  
3 because it's a pain, no amount of nice design will help.

> I was glad to see the proposal to abandon "ravel" ( a hangover from  
> APL?).

Fine, but that's the kind of change that doesn't hurt much: a name  
change can be made with a text editor. Changing the behaviour of  
fundamental operations (indexing) is a different thing.

Konrad.
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Konrad Hinsen
Laboratoire Leon Brillouin, CEA Saclay,
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E-Mail: khinsen at cea.fr
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