Numpy: scratching the surface

Numpy: scratching the surface

What is it?

Numpy is an open-source package for Python, offering routines for fast and efficient manipulation of arrays and matrices of numeric data. Many other libraries use numpy as their base owing to its efficiency when dealing with large amounts of numeric data.

Why should I use it?

Vanilla python is fully capable of carrying out numeric operations - numpy just helps you do it faster. Are you frequently dealing with matrix calculations? If yes, then numpy has the potential to save you a lot of time.

Quick start

The material below provides a very basic introduction, giving you an overview of some of things that are possible with numpy. Some of these concepts may appear a little abstract, but there usefulness will become clear once you start integrating numpy into your workflow.