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One of the reasons I am hesitant (so far) to use IPython Notebook for teaching is that I worry about the longevity of the format. Maybe I'm a worrywart but my c

by plg 13y ago

One of the reasons I am hesitant (so far) to use IPython Notebook for teaching is that I worry about the longevity of the format. Maybe I'm a worrywart but my current preference is to use old (boring?) formats like html (via org-mode).

japhyr 13y ago
From my understanding, all IPython Notebook viewer does is convert a notebook to html, and serve the html. So I am comfortable investing in this format, with the notion that I can dump to html and be no worse off than I was making blog posts or writing up tutorials. On the other hand, IPython is 5+ years old(?), and it has some pretty strong backing and momentum. I have a good deal of confidence that it will be around for a while. Edit: If you miss the comment below, IPython is almost 12 years old!
- avdempsey 13y ago
  You might also be pleased to know that the primary focus of the last release is a powerful format converter, nbconvert. It can do some simple transformation: http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/rel-1.1.0/interactive/nbconvert.html http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/rel-1.1.0/interactive/nbconve... Or you can build a custom transformer: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/Carreau/posts/master/06-NBconvert-Doc-Draft.ipynb http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/Carreau/post...
- fperez_org 13y ago
  IPython is actually almost 12 years old, I started the project while a grad student in 2001.
fperez_org 13y ago
We are extremely aware of this fact, and are working very, very hard to ensure that the format is a robust component of long-lived, archival-quality workflows. We (in the IPython project) are interested in using it for capturing reproducible research workflows all the way up to the publication stage, so we're painfully aware of the importance of format stability, good conversion tools and support for early format migration forward. We see many others investing their own time in using our tools, and we know we'd get burned at the stake if we make gratuitous changes that harm their workflows. We do have some format changes in mind, but we've been "bunching them up" precisely so we can make format revisions only very rarely (we haven't done any in ~2 years), and with rock-solid support for conversions and migration.

by plg 13y ago

japhyr 13y ago

From my understanding, all IPython Notebook viewer does is convert a notebook to html, and serve the html. So I am comfortable investing in this format, with the notion that I can dump to html and be no worse off than I was making blog posts or writing up tutorials. On the other hand, IPython is 5+ years old(?), and it has some pretty strong backing and momentum. I have a good deal of confidence that it will be around for a while. Edit: If you miss the comment below, IPython is almost 12 years old!

avdempsey 13y ago
You might also be pleased to know that the primary focus of the last release is a powerful format converter, nbconvert. It can do some simple transformation: http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/rel-1.1.0/interactive/nbconvert.html http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/rel-1.1.0/interactive/nbconve... Or you can build a custom transformer: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/Carreau/posts/master/06-NBconvert-Doc-Draft.ipynb http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/Carreau/post...
fperez_org 13y ago
IPython is actually almost 12 years old, I started the project while a grad student in 2001.

fperez_org 13y ago

We are extremely aware of this fact, and are working very, very hard to ensure that the format is a robust component of long-lived, archival-quality workflows. We (in the IPython project) are interested in using it for capturing reproducible research workflows all the way up to the publication stage, so we're painfully aware of the importance of format stability, good conversion tools and support for early format migration forward. We see many others investing their own time in using our tools, and we know we'd get burned at the stake if we make gratuitous changes that harm their workflows. We do have some format changes in mind, but we've been "bunching them up" precisely so we can make format revisions only very rarely (we haven't done any in ~2 years), and with rock-solid support for conversions and migration.