Glossary

AMG

Algebraic multigrid method for solving sparse matrices. AMG solves linear systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multigrid_method#Algebraic_multigrid_(AMG).

AppVeyor

A cloud-based Continuous Integration tool. See https://www.appveyor.com.

Azure

A cloud-based Continuous Integration tool. See https://dev.azure.com.

BiCG

Biconjugate gradient method for solving sparse matrices. BiCG solves linear systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biconjugate_gradient_method.

BiCGSTAB

Biconjugate gradient (stabilized) method for solving sparse matrices. BiCGSTAB solves linear systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biconjugate_gradient_stabilized_method.

CG

Conjugate Gradient method for solving sparse matrices. CG solves linear systems with a symmetric positive-definite coefficient matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugate_gradient_method.

CGS

Conjugate Gradient Squared method for solving sparse matrices, a variant of BiCG. CGS solves linear systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugate_gradient_squared_method.

CircleCI

A cloud-based Continuous Integration tool. See https://circleci.com.

conda

An open source package management system and environment management system that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Conda quickly installs, runs and updates packages and their dependencies. Conda easily creates, saves, loads and switches between environments on your local computer. It was created for Python programs, but it can package and distribute software for any language. See https://conda.io.

Continuous Integration

The practice of frequently testing and integrating one’s new or changed code with the existing code repository. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_integration.

FiPy

The eponymous software package. See http://www.ctcms.nist.gov/fipy.

FGMRES

Flexible Inner-Outer Preconditioned GMRES algorithm for solving sparse matrices. FGMRES solves systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix. See https://doi.org/10.1137/0914028.

GitHub Actions

A cloud-based Continuous Integration tool. See https://github.com/features/actions.

GMRES

Generalized Minimal RESidual method for solving sparse matrices. GMRES solves systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized_minimal_residual_method.

Gmsh

A free and Open Source 3D (and 2D!) finite element grid generator. It also has a CAD engine and post-processor that FiPy does not make use of. See http://www.geuz.org/gmsh.

IPython

An improved Python shell that integrates nicely with Matplotlib. See http://ipython.scipy.org/.

JOR

Jacobi over-relaxation method for solving sparse matrices. JOR solves systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix.

JSON

JavaScript Object Notation. A text format suitable for storing structured information such as dict or list. See https://www.json.org/.

linux

An operating system. See http://www.linux.org.

LU

Lower-Upper decomposition method for solving sparse matrices. LU solves systems with a general non-symmetric coefficient matrix using partial pivoting. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LU_decomposition.

macOS

An operating system. See http://www.apple.com/macos.

Matplotlib

matplotlib Python package displays publication quality results. It displays both 1D X-Y type plots and 2D contour plots for structured data. It does not display unstructured 2D data or 3D data. It works on all common platforms and produces publication quality hard copies. See http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net and Matplotlib.

Mayavi

The mayavi Data Visualizer is a free, easy to use scientific data visualizer. It displays 1D, 2D and 3D data. It is the only FiPy viewer available for 3D data. Other viewers are probably better for 1D or 2D viewing. See http://code.enthought.com/projects/mayavi and Mayavi.

MayaVi

The predecessor to Mayavi. Yes, it’s confusing.

MPI

The Message Passing Interface is a standard that allows the use of multiple processors. See http://www.mpi-forum.org

mpi4py

MPI for Python provides bindings of the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard for the Python programming language, allowing any Python program to exploit multiple processors. For Solving in Parallel, FiPy requires this package, in addition to PETSc or Trilinos. See https://mpi4py.readthedocs.io.

numarray

An archaic predecessor to NumPy.

Numeric

An archaic predecessor to NumPy.

NumPy

The numpy Python package provides array arithmetic facilities. See http://www.scipy.org/NumPy.

OpenMP

The Open Multi-Processing architecture is a specification for a set of compiler directives, library routines, and environment variables that can be used to specify high-level parallelism in Fortran and C/C++ programs. See https://www.openmp.org.

pandas

“Python Data Analysis Library” provides high-performance data structures for flexible, extensible analysis. See http://pandas.pydata.org.

PCG

Preconditioned conjugate gradient method for solving sparse matrices. PCG solves systems with a symmetric positive definite coefficient matrix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugate_gradient_method.

petsc4py

Python wrapper for PETSc. See https://petsc4py.readthedocs.io/.

pip

“pip installs python” is a tool for installing and managing Python packages, such as those found in PyPI. See http://www.pip-installer.org.

PyPI

The Python Package Index is a repository of software for the Python programming language. See http://pypi.python.org/pypi.

Pyrex

A mechanism for mixing C and Python code. See http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/greg.ewing/python/Pyrex/.

Python

The programming language that FiPy (and your scripts) are written in. See http://www.python.org/.

Python 3

The (likely) future of the Python programming language. Third-party packages are slowly being adapted, but many that FiPy uses are not yet available. See http://docs.python.org/py3k/ and PEP 3000.

PyTrilinos

Python wrapper for Trilinos. See https://trilinos.github.io/pytrilinos.html.

PyxViewer

A now defunct python viewer.

ScientificPython

A collection of useful utilities for scientists. See http://dirac.cnrs-orleans.fr/plone/software/scientificpython.

SciPy

The scipy package provides a wide range of scientific and mathematical operations. FiPy can use SciPy solver suite for linear solutions. See http://www.scipy.org/.

Sphinx

The tools used to generate the FiPy documentation. See http://sphinx.pocoo.org/.

steppyngstounes

This package provides iterators that simplify both deterministic and adaptive stepping in time (or other independent variables). See https://pages.nist.gov/steppyngstounes/en/latest.

TravisCI

A cloud-based Continuous Integration tool. See https://travis-ci.org.

Weave

The weave package can enhance performance with C language inlining. See https://github.com/scipy/weave.

Windows

An operating system. See http://www.microsoft.com/windows.

Last updated on Sep 02, 2025. Created using Sphinx 7.1.2.