Re: [boost] Extending Boost.Python with NumPy support

Subject: Re: [boost] Extending Boost.Python with NumPy support
From: Stefan Seefeld (stefan_at_[hidden])
Date: 2016-10-03 16:27:16

On 03.10.2016 08:13, Rob Stewart wrote:
> On October 2, 2016 6:20:27 PM EDT, Stefan Seefeld <stefan_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>> Right, I know that text (being the Boost.Python maintainer) :-)
>> I'm fully confident concerning the new code's quality. What makes me
>> wonder
>> (and triggered my mail) is that the change in its current form will
>> introduce
>>
>> * a new library (boost_numpy)
> How is a new library part of Boost.Python? It seems a review is needed for that.

Conceptually it's not a new library. It's the result of some refactoring
/ extension of Boost.Python. The API provided by the
boost/python/numeric.hpp header is *very* old and outdated, as that API
hasn't kept up with the evolution of the equivalent APIs inside Python.
Everyone in the Python world who's doing numeric computations uses
NumPy, so using Boost.Python wrappers for that instead of
boost/python/numeric.hpp is the obvious choice. But since not every
Boost.Python user needs NumPy support, I don't want to build that into
the libboost_python library itself ("don't pay for what you don't
need"), but rather compile a separate library next to it.
>> * a new top-level header (boost/numpy.hpp)
>> * a new top-level namespace (boost::numpy)
> Those are part of the first item as I see them.

Not quite: Whether to build a single binary or not is a practical
choice, and there are other cases where a single module can produce
additional (optional) libraries depending on whether prerequisite
libraries are available at build time (example: Boost.MPI and its Python
bindings)

Whether the new API lives in a top-level namespace (boost::numpy) or not
(boost::python::numeric or boost::python::numpy) is secondary IMO.

If that choice influences whether I have to go through a formal review
process I'll surely opt for the simpler and more expedient choice.
(But to be honest, I'm not so much afraid of the review itself as of the
ETA for it, given the current pace at which reviews are done.)

Thanks,
        Stefan

-- 
      ...ich hab' noch einen Koffer in Berlin...