[Numpy-discussion] Re: Simplifying array()

[Florian Schulze]

On 12 Jan 2005 19:35:36 -0500, Todd Miller <jmiller at stsci.edu> wrote:

> One item I thought needed some discussion was the removal of two
> features:
>
>>   * array() does too much. E.g., handling file/memory instances for
>>     'sequence'. There's fromfile for the former, and users needing
>>     the latter functionality should be clued up enough to
>>     instantiate NumArray directly.
>
> I agree with this myself.  Does anyone care if they will no longer be
> able to construct an array from a file or buffer object using array()
> rather than fromfile() or NumArray(), respectively?  Is a deprecation
> process necessary to remove them?

IMHO, array should just delegate to other functions based on the 
arguments, then it can remain backward compatible. I use the from buffer 
functionality quite often and it would be nice if there would at least be 
a new function frombuffer or frommemory.

Regards,
Florian Schulze