Pint: a Python units library
============================

Pint is Python module/package to define, operate and manipulate physical
quantities: the product of a numerical value and a unit of measurement.
It allows arithmetic operations between them and conversions from and
to different units.

It is distributed with a comprehensive list of physical units, prefixes
and constants. Due to it's modular design, you to extend (or even rewrite!)
the complete list without changing the source code.

It has a complete test coverage. It runs in Python 2.6, 2.7, 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2
with no other dependency. It licensed under BSD.


Design principles
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Although there are already a few very good Python packages to handle physical
quantities, no one was really fitting my needs. Like most developers, I programed
Pint to scratch my own itches.

- Unit parsing: prefixed and pluralized forms of units are recognized without
  explicitly defining them. In other words: as the prefix *kilo* and the unit *meter*
  are defined, Pint understands *kilometers*. This results in a much shorter and
  maintainable unit definition list as compared to other packages.

- Standalone unit definitions: units definitions are loaded from simple and
  easy to edit text file. Adding and changing units and their definitions does
  not involve changing the code.

- Handle temperature conversion: it can convert between units with different
  point of reference, like positions on a map or absolute temperature scales.

- Advanced string formatting: a quantity can be formatted into string using
  PEP 3101 syntax. Extended conversion flags are given to provide latex and pretty
  formatting.

- Small codebase: small and easy to maintain codebase with a flat hierarchy.
  It is a single stand-alone module that can be installed as a package or added
  side by side to your project.

- Dependency free: it depends only on Python and it's standard library.

- Python 2 and 3: A single codebase that runs unchanged in Python 2.6+ and Python 3.0+.