[Numpy-discussion] Request for advice: project to get NumPy working in IronPython

[David Cournapeau]

Christopher Barker wrote:
> Is there a C# <-> C (or, I guess, really a .net <-> C ) binding 
> mechanism? Like JNI for Java?
I don't know much about the whole .Net thing (CLR, in this case), but 
there is the p-invoke mechanism for that:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_Invocation_Services

I don't know the performance impact. According to pypy developers, the 
best way to extend python in C is to use ctypes: this makes interop 
easier for different VM (Cpython vs CLR in this case). But in the case 
of numpy, this would mean quite a lot of work, I guess, because numpy is 
more than just a python extension, it provides a big C Api (which is the 
real problem in the case of VM adaptation). The best would be of course 
a solution which enables interop, so that if later, people want to use 
the work gone into numpy for IronPython, people do not have to start 
everything from scratch for say Jython or something else. But maybe this 
is too big of a task.

Giles, maybe you could see with the pypy people if they can give you 
some advice, too (pypy is an implementation of python in python, which 
can translate into different platforms, including the CLI):

http://codespeak.net/pypy/dist/pypy/doc/news.html
http://lists.ironpython.com/pipermail/users-ironpython.com/2007-March/004685.html

cheers,

David