python.array versus numpy.array

Question

If you are creating a 1d array in Python is there any benefit to using the NumPy package?

Answer 1

Depends what you want to do with the array.

Answer 2

It all depends on what you plan to do with the array. If all you're doing is creating arrays of simple data types and doing I/O, the array module will do just fine.

If, on the other hand, you want to do any kind of numerical calculations, the array module doesn't provide any help with that. NumPy (and SciPy) give you a wide variety of operations between arrays and special functions that are useful not only for scientific work but for things like advanced image manipulation or in general anything where you need to perform efficient calculations with large amounts of data.

Numpy is also much more flexible, e.g. it supports arrays of any type of Python objects, and is also able to interact "natively" with your own objects if they conform to the array interface.