[Numpy-discussion] Ransom Proposals

[Travis Oliphant]

Tim Hochberg wrote:

>>
>> Yes, having this ability means that you have to think about it a bit 
>> if you are going to use the functional interface and try to do 
>> in-place operations.  But, I would argue that this is an "advanced" 
>> usage which is implemented to save space and time.
>
>
> How is this true though? In what way, for instance, is:
>
>    b = asarray(a).reshape(newshape)
>
> slower or less space efficient than todays:
>
>    b = reshape(a)


Well, the big difference is that b=reshape(a) is actually

try:
     reshape = a.reshape
except AttributeError:
     return a.__array_wrap__(asarray(a).reshape(newshape))

return reshape(newshape)

So, it handles more cases, more cleanly then the 
asarray(a).rehsape(newshape) approach does.

-Travis