[Numpy-discussion] A roadmap for NumPy (original) (raw)

[Numpy-discussion] A roadmap for NumPy - longer term planning

Stefan van der Walt stefanv at berkeley.edu
Fri Jun 1 12:57:14 EDT 2018

Hi Ralf,

On Thu, 31 May 2018 21:57:06 -0700, Ralf Gommers wrote:

- "internal refactorings": MaskedArray yes, but the other ones no. numpy.distutils and f2py are very hard to test, a big refactor pretty much guarantees breakage. there's also not much need for refactoring, because those things are not coupled to the numpy.core internals. numpy.financial is simply uninteresting - we wish it wasn't there but it is, so now it simply stays where it is.

I want to clarify that in the current notes we put down ideas that prompted active discussion, even if they weren't necessarily feasible. I feel it is important to keep the conversation open to run its course until we have a good understanding of the various issues at hand.

You may find that, in person, people are more willing to admit to their support for some "heretical" ideas than they are here on the list.

E.g., you say that the financial functions "now simply stay", but that promises a future of a NumPy that never shrinks, while there is certainly some support for allowing NumPy to contract so that we can release maintenance burden and allow development of other core areas that have been neglected for a long time.

You will always have small, vocal proponents of any specific piece of functionality; that doesn't necessarily mean that such functionality contributes to the health of a project as a whole.

So, I gently urge us carefully reconsider the narrative that nothing can change/be removed, and evaluate each suggestion carefully, not weighing only the very evident negatives but also the longer term positives.

Best regards, Stéfan

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