Alternatives to NumPy's get_version() for Version Information

• Returns
  It returns a string containing the version number (e.g., "1.23.4") or None if the version information couldn't be located.
• Purpose
  Retrieves the version information of the current NumPy package being built.

How it works

• The function scans these files for the version definition and extracts it as a string.
• get_version() searches for specific files within the NumPy source code that contain the version information. These files typically follow naming conventions like:
  • __version__.py
  • <packagename>_version.py (where <packagename> is the specific NumPy package name)

• This function helps automate the version information during the packaging process, ensuring the built package reflects the correct NumPy version.
• get_version() is primarily used during the process of building and packaging NumPy for distribution. It's not typically used in regular Python scripting where you import NumPy.

---

def get_version_from_file(filename):
  """
  This function simulates how get_version() might work. 

  Args:
      filename (str): Path to the file containing version information

  Returns:
      str: Extracted version number or None if not found
  """
  try:
    with open(filename, 'r') as f:
      for line in f:
        if line.startswith('__version__ = '):
          # Extract version number from the line
          version = line.split('=').pop().strip().strip('"')
          return version
  except (IOError, FileNotFoundError):
    pass
  return None

# Simulate using the function
version_file = "__version__.py"
version = get_version_from_file(version_file)

if version:
  print(f"Extracted version: {version}")
else:
  print("Version information not found")

This example defines a get_version_from_file function that simulates how get_version() might work. It opens the specified file, searches for a line starting with __version__ =, and extracts the version number after the equal sign.

---

1. __version__ attribute
   The most common and recommended approach is to directly access the __version__ attribute of the numpy module. This attribute is set during installation and contains the NumPy version string (e.g., "1.23.4").

import numpy

print(f"NumPy version: {numpy.__version__}")

1. import importlib
   You can use the importlib module to import the numpy package and then access its __version__ attribute dynamically.

import importlib

numpy = importlib.import_module('numpy')
print(f"NumPy version: {numpy.__version__}")

1. pkg_resources (if applicable)
   If you're working in an environment that uses setuptools for packaging (common with many Python packages), you can leverage the pkg_resources module to get the installed NumPy version.

try:
  import pkg_resources
  numpy_version = pkg_resources.get_distribution("numpy").version
  print(f"NumPy version: {numpy_version}")
except pkg_resources.DistributionNotFound:
  print("NumPy not found using pkg_resources")

• Avoid using get_version() in your regular scripts as it's designed for internal packaging purposes.
• If you need more dynamic behavior or are working in a specific packaging environment, importlib or pkg_resources might be suitable.
• For most cases, directly accessing numpy.__version__ is the simplest and most efficient way.