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IPython gets $1.15M funding

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Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#21

Post by vitalique »

andybak wrote: post #17
olefoo wrote: post #8

IPython notebook is actually one of the most interesting developments not just in the python world, but in computing generally. It's the first step towards the fully graphical shell on the internet that many of us have been looking for, whether or not we realize it. Being able to weave together text|markdown, tabular data (in almost any format you want) and images ( whether from matplotlib, raw captures, or synthetic…

It sorely needs some better tutorials, demos. The official docs are dry and dwell on technical matters rather than giving you some sense of the potential. There isn't much else out there - especially if you aren't doing scientific or statistical work. I'm sure the iPython Notebook could be useful in my day to day Python/Django usage but I haven't figured out how yet.

There's a great (but somewhat lengthy) video tutorial[1] from Pycon US'12 that covers a lot of IPython and the Notebook. Highly recommended; it's a live demo by the authors of the tools. Seriously, IPython is the coolest thing that happened to Python since Python, and anyone even slightly interested owes it to himself to play with IPython.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G5YTlheCbw

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#22

Post by yen223 »

andybak wrote: post #17
olefoo wrote: post #8

IPython notebook is actually one of the most interesting developments not just in the python world, but in computing generally. It's the first step towards the fully graphical shell on the internet that many of us have been looking for, whether or not we realize it. Being able to weave together text|markdown, tabular data (in almost any format you want) and images ( whether from matplotlib, raw captures, or synthetic…

It sorely needs some better tutorials, demos. The official docs are dry and dwell on technical matters rather than giving you some sense of the potential. There isn't much else out there - especially if you aren't doing scientific or statistical work. I'm sure the iPython Notebook could be useful in my day to day Python/Django usage but I haven't figured out how yet.

If there's one complaint to make about IPython, it's that the authors seem to be positioning IPython as a scientific/mathematical tool, even though it is so much more. Most of its docs assume you will be using IPython for its pylab and matplotlib features, instead of as a general-purpose Python shell. This is not surprising considering its roots, but still.

That said, I thought it was quite straightforward to setup and use the IPython Notebook.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#23

Post by andybak »

vitalique wrote: post #21
andybak wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sorely needs some better tutorials, demos. The official docs are dry and dwell on technical matters rather than giving you some sense of the potential. There isn't much else out there - especially if you aren't doing scientific or statistical work. I'm sure the iPython Notebook could be useful in my day to day Python/Django usage but I haven't figured out how yet.

There's a great (but somewhat lengthy) video tutorial[1] from Pycon US'12 that covers a lot of IPython and the Notebook. Highly recommended; it's a live demo by the authors of the tools. Seriously, IPython is the coolest thing that happened to Python since Python, and anyone even slightly interested owes it to himself to play with IPython. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G5YTlheCbw

Thanks. Personally I'm allergic to video tutorials but I'm sure that will be great for others.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#24

Post by andybak »

cdavid wrote: post #16
3amOpsGuy wrote: post #7

IPython is extremely useful. I like the qtconsole feature but i find it less than perfect to install: 1. pip install ipython 2. install qt4 3. pip install pyside / qt4 bindings The better feature, for me anyway, is the notebook interface (it starts a local web server and gives you a rich web guy, somewhat like a Mathematica idea of interactive notebook editing with inline charting etc.) But, that's a whole other bunc…

If you want qt, I would say your best bet is one of the full python distribution for scientific python, e.g. winPython, python(x, y), EPD, Anaconda. Everybody working on one of this is a user of ipython, and care about the notebook, and most of them have a free version available (free as no cost, not necessarily open source) (disclaimer, I work for Enthought, which sells EPD)

The free version of Enthought solved a bunch of problems for me on OSX. It bundles a lot of the binary libraries that are a bitch to compile yourself.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#25

Post by StavrosK »

andybak wrote: post #17
olefoo wrote: post #8

IPython notebook is actually one of the most interesting developments not just in the python world, but in computing generally. It's the first step towards the fully graphical shell on the internet that many of us have been looking for, whether or not we realize it. Being able to weave together text|markdown, tabular data (in almost any format you want) and images ( whether from matplotlib, raw captures, or synthetic…

It sorely needs some better tutorials, demos. The official docs are dry and dwell on technical matters rather than giving you some sense of the potential. There isn't much else out there - especially if you aren't doing scientific or statistical work. I'm sure the iPython Notebook could be useful in my day to day Python/Django usage but I haven't figured out how yet.

For anyone else who doesn't know what it is, this seems useful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaS4NXxL5Qc#t=2m55s

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#26

Post by mkarttic »

vitalique wrote: post #21
andybak wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sorely needs some better tutorials, demos. The official docs are dry and dwell on technical matters rather than giving you some sense of the potential. There isn't much else out there - especially if you aren't doing scientific or statistical work. I'm sure the iPython Notebook could be useful in my day to day Python/Django usage but I haven't figured out how yet.

There's a great (but somewhat lengthy) video tutorial[1] from Pycon US'12 that covers a lot of IPython and the Notebook. Highly recommended; it's a live demo by the authors of the tools. Seriously, IPython is the coolest thing that happened to Python since Python, and anyone even slightly interested owes it to himself to play with IPython. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G5YTlheCbw

I second this recommendation. Its an awesome demo. I used ipython from before, but barely scratched the surface. Now I use IPython to finish up assignments where the code documents itself, and with extra tex/images to fill in where required. I even 'cheat' sometimes on Project Euler by running problems in parallel using ipython. ;)

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#27

Post by nemoniac »

olefoo wrote: post #8

IPython notebook is actually one of the most interesting developments not just in the python world, but in computing generally. It's the first step towards the fully graphical shell on the internet that many of us have been looking for, whether or not we realize it. Being able to weave together text|markdown, tabular data (in almost any format you want) and images ( whether from matplotlib, raw captures, or synthetic…

I hate to dump on this but IMHO what the world has been waiting for is not a Mathematica clone in Python. Neither do I think it would be a step in the right direction to funnel Python development through the browser.

There are those who will find it useful but others will find that there are better desktop tools for these purposes. Individual developers are free to pick and choose.

Fortunately, neither this announcement not the Ipython roadmap emphasises development of the web-based notebook.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#28

Post by cdavid »

andybak wrote: post #24
cdavid wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want qt, I would say your best bet is one of the full python distribution for scientific python, e.g. winPython, python(x, y), EPD, Anaconda. Everybody working on one of this is a user of ipython, and care about the notebook, and most of them have a free version available (free as no cost, not necessarily open source) (disclaimer, I work for Enthought, which sells EPD)

The free version of Enthought solved a bunch of problems for me on OSX. It bundles a lot of the binary libraries that are a bitch to compile yourself.

Glad it is working for you. I have now just started working on it, so let me know if there are things you'd like to see improved.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#29

Post by [deleted] »

nemoniac wrote: post #27
olefoo wrote: post #8

IPython notebook is actually one of the most interesting developments not just in the python world, but in computing generally. It's the first step towards the fully graphical shell on the internet that many of us have been looking for, whether or not we realize it. Being able to weave together text|markdown, tabular data (in almost any format you want) and images ( whether from matplotlib, raw captures, or synthetic…

I hate to dump on this but IMHO what the world has been waiting for is not a Mathematica clone in Python. Neither do I think it would be a step in the right direction to funnel Python development through the browser. There are those who will find it useful but others will find that there are better desktop tools for these purposes. Individual developers are free to pick and choose. Fortunately, neither this announcem…

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