math.sqrt
is the C implementation of square root and is therefore different from using the **
operator which implements Python's built-in pow
function. Thus, using math.sqrt
actually gives a different answer than using the **
operator and there is indeed a computational reason to prefer numpy
or math
module implementation over the built-in. Specifically the sqrt functions are probably implemented in the most efficient way possible whereas **
operates over a large number of bases and exponents and is probably unoptimized for the specific case of square root. On the other hand, the built-in pow
function handles a few extra cases like "complex numbers, unbounded integer powers, and modular exponentiation".
See this Stack Overflow question for more information on the difference between **
and math.sqrt
.
In terms of which is more "Pythonic", I think we need to discuss the very definition of that word. From the official Python glossary, it states that a piece of code or idea is Pythonic if it "closely follows the most common idioms of the Python language, rather than implementing code using concepts common to other languages." In every single other language I can think of, there is some math module with basic square root functions. However there are languages that lack a power operator like **
e.g. C++. So **
is probably more Pythonic, but whether or not it's objectively better depends on the use case.