Numpy creating array

Numpy creating an Array

There are many routines to construct a new array using Numpy. Fundamentally, there are 5 general mechanisms for creating arrays, (read basics of array creation)

• Conversion from other Python structures (lists, tuples)
• Intrinsic numpy array creation objects ( arange, ones, zeros, etc.)
• Reading arrays from disk, either from standard or custom formats
• Creating arrays from raw bytes through the use of strings or buffers
• Use of special library functions ( random, etc.)

In this article, we are focusing a few important routines to construct new arrays.

numpy.empty

This method returns a new array of specified shape and type. The entries are not initialized in the array. The syntax of this method is,

empty(shape[, dtype, order])

Here, Shape is the shape of the empty array in int or tuple of int. 

The dtype is the desired output dtype. It is Optional 

Order can be 'C' for C-style row-major array, 'F' for FORTRAN style column-major array

For example,

import numpy as np 
empty_arr = np.empty([3, 3], dtype = int) 
print(empty_arr)

#Output
[[    139718313520056            43312800     139718313519992]
 [    139718313519992 2318339454602921504 2314899022742180896]
 [7009325245101601364 8386828583731295084                  80]]

numpy.zeros

This method returns a new array filled with zeros, with specified shape, dtype, and order. The syntax for this method is,

zeros(shape[, dtype, order])

For example,

import numpy as np 
zero_arr = np.zeros([3, 3], dtype = int) 
print(zero_arr)

#Output

[[0 0 0]
 [0 0 0]
 [0 0 0]]

OR, constructing an array filled with zeros, with user-defined dtype.

import numpy as np 
zero_arr = np.zeros((3,2), dtype = [('a', 'i2'), ('b', 'i2')]) 
print(zero_arr)

#Output
[[(0, 0) (0, 0)]
 [(0, 0) (0, 0)]
 [(0, 0) (0, 0)]]

numpy.ones

It is similar to numpy.zeros, except the array is filled with ones in place of zeros. The syntax is,

ones(shape[, dtype, order])

For example,

import numpy as np 
ones_arr = np.ones((3,2), dtype = [('a', 'i2'), ('b', 'i2')]) 
print(ones_arr)

#Output
[[(1, 1) (1, 1)]
 [(1, 1) (1, 1)]
 [(1, 1) (1, 1)]]

numpy.identity

Returns an identity array. The syntax is,

identity(n[, dtype])

For example,

import numpy as np 
ones_arr = np.ones(5, dtype = np.int)
print(ones_arr)

#Output
[1 1 1 1 1]

numpy.array

This is one of the prominently used method of array construction. The syntax for this method is,

array(object[, dtype, copy, order, subok, ndmin])

subok is a bool value and optional.

If it is True, then sub-classes will be passed-through, otherwise the returned array will be forced to be a base-class array (default).

ndmin is the int value and optional.

It specifies the minimum number of dimensions that the output array will have.

For example, 

import numpy as np 
print(np.array([1, 2, 3])) #simple array form a list
print(np.array([1, 2, 3, 5.68])) # upcasting
#multi-dimensional
print(np.array([[1, 2, 3],[4, 5, 6],[7, 8,9]]))
print(np.array([1, 2, 3], ndmin=2))

#Output
[1 2 3]
[1.   2.   3.   5.68]
[[1 2 3]
 [4 5 6]
 [7 8 9]]
[[1 2 3]]

numpy.arange

This method returns evenly spaced values within a specified interval.

arange([start,] stop[, step,][, dtype])

Here, the start is start (by default 0) of the interval, stop is the end of the interval,  step is the size of the step within the range.

For example,

import numpy as np 
print(np.arange(7)) # 0-7 array int
print(np.arange(3.0)) # 0-3.0 array float
print(np.arange(7,12)) #start 7, stop 12
print(np.arange(7,21,3)) #start 7, stop 21 step 3

#Output
[0 1 2 3 4 5 6]
[0. 1. 2.]
[ 7  8  9 10 11]
[ 7 10 13 16 19]