February 27, 2015 - 11:02
This post captures some good reasons for having an algorithm in Python, rather than simply calling a fast library function:
https://jakevdp.github.io/blog/2015/02/24/optimizing-python-with-numpy-and-numba/
Pure-Python code is easier to read, understand, and contribute to.
Pure-python packages are much easier to install than Python-wrapped C or Fortran code.
Pure-python code often works for many data types.
Pure-python is easier to use at scale.
-Doug