On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 6:13 PM, Michael Foord <fuzzy...@voidspace.org.uk> wrote: > Sturla Molden wrote: >> >> I'd just like to mention that the scientific community is highly dependent >> on NumPy. As long as NumPy is not ported to Py3k, migration is out of the >> question. Porting NumPy is not a trivial issue. It might take a complete >> rewrite of the whole C base using Cython. NumPy's ABI is not even PEP 3118 >> compliant. Changing the ABI for Py3k might break extension code written for >> NumPy using C. And scientists tend to write CPU-bound routines in languages >> like C and Fortran, not Python, so that is a major issue as well. If we port >> NumPy to Py3k, everyone using NumPy will have to port their C code to the >> new ABI. There are lot of people stuck with Python 2.x for this reason. It >> does not just affect individual scientists, but also large projects like IBM >> and CERN's blue brain and NASA's space telecope. So please, do not cancel >> 2.x support before we have ported NumPy, Matplotlib and most of their >> dependant extensions to Py3k. > > What will it take to *start* the port? (Or is it already underway?) For many > projects I fear that it is only the impending obsolescence (real rather than > theoretical) of Python 2 that will convince projects to port.
I feel the same way. Given how much resources it will take to port to py3k, I doubt the port will happen soon. I don't know what other numpy developers think, but I consider py3k to simply not worth the hassle - I know we will have to port eventually, though. To answer your question, the main issues are: - are two branches are necessary or not ? If two branches are necessary, I think we simply do not have the resources at the moment. - how to maintain a compatible C API across 2.x and 3.x - is it practically possible to support and maintain numpy from 2.4 to 3.x ? For example, I don't think the python 2.6 py3k warnings are very useful when you need to maintain compatibility with 2.4 and 2.5. There is also little documentation on how to port a significant C codebase to py3k. David _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
