[Numpy-discussion] "import numpy" is slow

[Andrew Dalke]

(Trying again now that I'm subscribed.  BTW, there's no link to the  
subscription page from numpy.scipy.org .)


The initial 'import numpy' loads a huge number of modules, even when  
I don't need them.

Python 2.5 (r25:51918, Sep 19 2006, 08:49:13)
[GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5341)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
 >>> import sys
 >>> len(sys.modules)
28
 >>> import numpy
 >>> len(sys.modules)
256
 >>> len([s for s in sorted(sys.modules) if 'numpy' in s])
127
 >>> numpy.__version__
'1.1.0'
 >>>

As a result, I assume that's the reason my program's startup cost is  
quite high.

[josiah:~/src/fp] dalke% time python -c 'a=4'
0.014u 0.038s 0:00.05 80.0%     0+0k 0+1io 0pf+0w
[josiah:~/src/fp] dalke% time python -c 'import numpy'
0.161u 0.279s 0:00.44 97.7%     0+0k 0+9io 0pf+0w

My total runtime is something like 1.4 seconds, and the only thing  
I'm using NumPy for is to make an array of doubles that I can pass to  
a C extension.  (I could use the array module or ctypes, but figured  
numpy is more useful for downstream code.)

Why does numpy/__init__.py need to import all of these other modules  
and submodules?  Any chance of cutting down on the number, in order  
to improve startup costs?

				Andrew
				dalke@dalkescientific.com