Numpy and Scipy installation on windows

Question

I have installed Numpy successfully. But on the site , there is lot of things that I have to do such as building Numpy, Scipy, downloading ATLAS, LAPACK etc. I am really confused and even I have checked some of the other queries also. Still not able to understand.

Can anyone please explain me what exactly should I do? I have cygwin installed on my pc.

1. How to buid Numpy? whats the use of building numpy?
2. How to install Scipy?
3. Whats ATLAS, LAPACK etc etc ?

Thank you so much(in advance).

Solution 1

I struggled with the same problem for a long time, and I eventually found an easy solution here`

Solution 2

You really should try Enthought Python Distribution. Just a single msi installation file, click a few Next and then you are done. They include lots of scientific packages in it, including numpy, scipy, matplotlib, etc., and also ipython environment.

Comments

[Hemant]

i really dont have ne idea abt WinPython. Can u jst tell me smthing abt this WinPython?

[Hemant]

Hi, thanks for this suggestion :) I read the same on scipy webpage also but i am still confused how to use it? as in do i need to uninstall my current Python idle (2.7.3)? or is this a kind of library ? Is it sumwhat different from the current Python IDLE (or shud i say the standard Python IDLE)?

[jpmuc]

The best thing is to check the project's website: code.google.com/p/winpython. Basically, it offers all the functionality you might need and saves you from the pain of compiling all those libraries under Windows: scipy.github.com/building/windows.html

[Hemant]

Hi, thanks for the suggestion :) I am definitely going to look out for it! But can u please tell me how different is WinPython from the basic or standard python IDLE that we use? and if possible can you just tell me what does this building of scipy, numpy mean? i am a beginner to python and i have to understand these concepts so that i can apply these concepts to learn Machine Learning in a better way.

[Chunliang Lyu]

it just packages various python scientific libraries like numpy and scipy into a single installer. it can install python 2.7 for you, so you may first uninstall your current python. in my view, it just make the installation process much easier, you can also compile and install packages by yourself, but they already did the dirty work. anyway, you can just download their free version and give it a try.

[jpmuc]

WinPython includes all the scientific packages you may need (numpy, matplotlib and all the scipy modules) plus and IDE similar to that of MatLab, where you can explore all variables used so far. Also it offers the concept of notebooks (you can create a session where you do some calculations and export all those actions so that someone else can reproduce them too). If you are familiar with MatLab this document might help you understand the meaning of numpy better scipy.org/NumPy_for_Matlab_Users