IPython gets $1.15M funding • Hacker News Board

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#41

Post by takluyver » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 12:33 PM UTC

sillysaurus wrote: post #38

lars512 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Executable documents are powerful tools for teaching and learning. Focus in this area will pay off all across the Python community.

Executable documents are powerful tools for teaching and learning. These already exist, though, and the ecosystem already has a lot of support and momentum behind it: javascript within the browser. Would you explain what some of the benefits are in comparison to this? I'm an outsider so I don't have a very firm understanding of what the implications are.

Javascript isn't quite what people mean by 'executable documents' - this is about an interface which mixes visible code blocks and results with rich text.

You could certainly base something like that around Javascript, and it would have certain advantages. But the Python world has a lot invested in scientific computing - Numpy, Scipy, and dozens of packages built on top of them. It's also got good integration with other languages, from FORTRAN to R. This sort of scientific computing is where we think the notebook really shines.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#42

Post by winter_blue » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 12:34 PM UTC

When will we hear about PyPy getting a similar amount of funding?

It's a great project, and lack of funding has prevented them from delivering on Py3k.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#43

Post by dmboyd » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 12:54 PM UTC

nimrody wrote: post #30

I would be wonderful if we could re-use the notebook interface for other language - Octave, Julia, R, Ruby. (Would also be nice if building ipython on OS X was easier!)

Rmagic and octave magic work pretty well in my experience (which rely on Rpy2 and oct2py)

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#44

Post by Apreche » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 1:01 PM UTC

Why does IPython get all the love? I tried it out back in the day, but it was not very impressive. bpython is much better, but doesn't seem to get as much attention.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#45

Post by theorique » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 1:02 PM UTC

Apreche wrote: post #44

Why does IPython get all the love? I tried it out back in the day, but it was not very impressive. bpython is much better, but doesn't seem to get as much attention.

TIL there is a bpython.

Thus (anecdotally) proving your point, I suppose.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#46

Post by yen223 » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 1:07 PM UTC

nimrody wrote: post #30

I would be wonderful if we could re-use the notebook interface for other language - Octave, Julia, R, Ruby. (Would also be nice if building ipython on OS X was easier!)

(Would also be nice if building ipython on OS X was easier!)

What issue do you face? Genuinely curious, because I use Mountain Lion, and installing IPython for me simply involves doing

    pip install ipython

I installed Python from source though.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#47

Post by zvrba » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 1:09 PM UTC

lars512 wrote: post #36

nemoniac wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Executable documents are powerful tools for teaching and learning. Focus in this area will pay off all across the Python community.

And for doing harm. (re macro viruses for MS Office).

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#48

Post by VMG » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 1:21 PM UTC

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…

I'm sure it's useful, but is it extremely useful? I can imagine living without it, even when programming Python.

I'm surprised to be honest but maybe I'm missing something.

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#49

Post by RaSoJo » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 1:24 PM UTC

This is the awesomest news for the day. It is so much more than a tool purely for the scientific community. I use it for quick fire data analytics codes all the time. Especially when coupled with pandas and matplotlib. pandas can output data in a tabular format directly onto the HTML notebook.

If creating forms on the same was a bit more simpler, then it would be biggest boon to a data analyst since excel sheets...dare i say. It would lead to quick fix applications, rapid prototyping for reporting applications. And it can be hosted and shared directly: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/

Re: IPython gets $1.15M funding

#50

Post by takluyver » Wed, Dec 12, 2012, 1:32 PM UTC

Apreche wrote: post #44

Why does IPython get all the love? I tried it out back in the day, but it was not very impressive. bpython is much better, but doesn't seem to get as much attention.

How long ago was 'back in the day'? Development has really picked up since about 2011, and it's become much more than just a shell. IPython has a particular focus on scientific computing, and how we can mix ad-hoc exploratory computing with recorded, repeatable computing, which leads to tools like the notebook.

If bpython does what you want, that's great. But the equivalent functionality is just one part of IPython.