terpolation axis. Default is zero.

Attributes
----------
t : ndarray
    knot vector
c : ndarray
    spline coefficients
k : int
    spline degree
extrapolate : bool
    If True, extrapolates the first and last polynomial pieces of b-spline
    functions active on the base interval.
axis : int
    Interpolation axis.
tck : tuple
    A read-only equivalent of ``(self.t, self.c, self.k)``

Methods
-------
__call__
basis_element
derivative
antiderivative
integrate
insert_knot
construct_fast
design_matrix
from_power_basis

Notes
-----
B-spline basis elements are defined via

.. math::

    B_{i, 0}(x) = 1, \textrm{if $t_i \le x < t_{i+1}$, otherwise $0$,}

    B_{i, k}(x) = \frac{x - t_i}{t_{i+k} - t_i} B_{i, k-1}(x)
             + \frac{t_{i+k+1} - x}{t_{i+k+1} - t_{i+1}} B_{i+1, k-1}(x)

**Implementation details**

- At least ``k+1`` coefficients are required for a spline of degree `k`,
  so that ``n >= k+1``. Additional coefficients, ``c[j]`` with
  ``j > n``, are ignored.

- B-spline basis elements of degree `k` form a partition of unity on the
  *base interval*, ``t[k] <= x <= t[n]``.


Examples
--------

Translating the recursive definition of B-splines into Python code, we have:

>>> def B(x, k, i, t):
...    if k == 0:
...       return 1.0 if t[i] <= x < t[i+1] else 0.0
...    if t[i+k] == t[i]:
...       c1 = 0.0
...    else:
...       c1 = (x - t[i])/(t[i+k] - t[i]) * B(x, k-1, i, t)
...    if t[i+k+1] == t[i+1]:
...       c2 = 0.0
...    else:
...       c2 = (t[i+k+1] - x)/(t[i+k+1] - t[i+1]) * B(x, k-1, i+1, t)
...    return c1 + c2

>>> def bspline(x, t, c, k):
...    n = len(t) - k - 1
...    assert (n >= k+1) and (len(c) >= n)
...    return sum(c[i] * B(x, k, i, t) for i in range(n))

Note that this is an inefficient (if straightforward) way to
evaluate B-splines --- this spline class does it in an equivalent,
but much more efficient way.

Here we construct a quadratic spline function on the base interval
``2 <= x <= 4`` and compare with the naive way of evaluating the spline:

>>> from scipy.interpolate import BSpline
>>> k = 2
>>> t = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
>>> c = [-1, 2, 0, -1]
>>> spl = BSpline(t, c, k)
>>> spl(2.5)
array(1.375)
>>> bspline(2.5, t, c, k)
1.375

Note that outside of the base interval results differ. This is because
`BSpline` extrapolates the first and last polynomial pieces of B-spline
functions active on the base interval.

>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
>>> import numpy as np
>>> fig, ax = plt.subplots()
>>> xx = np.linspace(1.5, 4.5, 50)
>>> ax.plot(xx, [bspline(x, t, c ,k) for x in xx], 'r-', lw=3, label='naive')
>>> ax.plot(xx, spl(xx), 'b-', lw=4, alpha=0.7, label='BSpline')
>>> ax.grid(True)
>>> ax.legend(loc='best')
>>> plt.show()


References
----------
.. [1] Tom Lyche and Knut Morken, Spline methods,
    http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/matnat/ifi/INF-MAT5340/v05/undervisningsmateriale/
.. [2] Carl de Boor, A practical guide to splines, Springer, 2001.

c