[matplotlib-devel] standard abbreviation for pyplot or pylab?

[Eric F. <ef...@ha...>]

referring to: 
http://news.gmane.org/find-root.php?message_id=%3cc7009a550804100055g6388b20ej520e85d8e679a55%40mail.gmail.com%3e

There was a slightly jumbled set of threads on Numpy-discussion that 
included a discussion of standardizing imports, like this:

import numpy as np
import scipy as sp

and then this was added, as something else that had been agreed at the 
same sprint:

import pylab as plt

I think this is a mistake, and it should have been

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

because, for most production code, we don't want to be accessing numpy 
indirectly via pylab.  I suspect it was just a slip-up by the poster, 
but since I was not involved in whatever discussion led to "plt", and 
the thread was going in several directions at once, I did not want to 
jump in.

We should get this straight, however.  Note that the point is not to 
tell users that they must use a particular form, but to try to 
standardize the usage in the projects themselves, including examples and 
documentation, so as to reduce confusion among new users.

Eric