Classes
The syntax for defining classes in Python is straightforward:
class Greeter(object):
# Constructor
def __init__(self, name):
[Link] = name # Create an instance
variable
# Instance method
def greet(self, loud=False):
if loud:
print('HELLO, %s!' % [Link]())
else:
print('Hello, %s' % [Link])
g = Greeter('Fred') # Construct an instance of the
Greeter class
[Link]() # Call an instance method;
prints "Hello, Fred"
[Link](loud=True) # Call an instance method;
prints "HELLO, FRED!"
You can read a lot more about Python classes in the documentation.
Numpy
Numpy is the core library for scientific computing in Python. It
provides a high-performance multidimensional array object, and tools
for working with these arrays.
Arrays
A numpy array is a grid of values, all of the same type, and is indexed
by a tuple of nonnegative integers. The number of dimensions is
the rank of the array; the shape of an array is a tuple of integers
giving the size of the array along each dimension.
We can initialize numpy arrays from nested Python lists, and access
elements using square brackets:
import numpy as np
a = [Link]([1, 2, 3]) # Create a rank 1 array
print(type(a)) # Prints "<class
'[Link]'>"
print([Link]) # Prints "(3,)"
print(a[0], a[1], a[2]) # Prints "1 2 3"
a[0] = 5 # Change an element of
the array
print(a) # Prints "[5, 2, 3]"
b = [Link]([[1,2,3],[4,5,6]]) # Create a rank
2 array
print([Link]) # Prints "(2,
3)"
print(b[0, 0], b[0, 1], b[1, 0]) # Prints "1 2 4"
Numpy also provides many functions to create arrays:
import numpy as np
a = [Link]((2,2)) # Create an array of all
zeros
print(a) # Prints "[[ 0. 0.]
# [ 0. 0.]]"
b = [Link]((1,2)) # Create an array of all ones
print(b) # Prints "[[ 1. 1.]]"
c = [Link]((2,2), 7) # Create a constant array
print(c) # Prints "[[ 7. 7.]
# [ 7. 7.]]"
d = [Link](2) # Create a 2x2 identity
matrix
print(d) # Prints "[[ 1. 0.]
# [ 0. 1.]]"
e = [Link]((2,2)) # Create an array
filled with random values
print(e) # Might print "[[
0.91940167 0.08143941]
# [
0.68744134 0.87236687]]"
You can read about other methods of array creation in the
documentation.
Array indexing
Numpy offers several ways to index into arrays.
Slicing: Similar to Python lists, numpy arrays can be sliced. Since
arrays may be multidimensional, you must specify a slice for each
dimension of the array:
import numpy as np
# Create the following rank 2 array with shape (3,
4)
# [[ 1 2 3 4]
# [ 5 6 7 8]
# [ 9 10 11 12]]
a = [Link]([[1,2,3,4], [5,6,7,8], [9,10,11,12]])
# Use slicing to pull out the subarray consisting
of the first 2 rows
# and columns 1 and 2; b is the following array of
shape (2, 2):
# [[2 3]
# [6 7]]
b = a[:2, 1:3]
#array([[2, 3],
[6, 7]])
b = a[:2, 1:4]
# array([[2, 3, 4],
[6, 7, 8]])
# A slice of an array is a view into the same data,
so modifying it
# will modify the original array.
print(a[0, 1]) # Prints "2"
b[0, 0] = 77 # b[0, 0] is the same piece of
data as a[0, 1]
print(a[0, 1]) # Prints "77"
You can also mix integer indexing with slice indexing. However, doing
so will yield an array of lower rank than the original array. Note that
this is quite different from the way that MATLAB handles array slicing:
import numpy as np
# Create the following rank 2 array with shape (3,
4)
# [[ 1 2 3 4]
# [ 5 6 7 8]
# [ 9 10 11 12]]
a = [Link]([[1,2,3,4], [5,6,7,8], [9,10,11,12]])
# Two ways of accessing the data in the middle row
of the array.
# Mixing integer indexing with slices yields an
array of lower rank,
# while using only slices yields an array of the
same rank as the
# original array:
row_r1 = a[1, :] # Rank 1 view of the second row
of a
row_r2 = a[1:2, :] # Rank 2 view of the second row
of a
print(row_r1, row_r1.shape) # Prints "[5 6 7 8]
(4,)"
print(row_r2, row_r2.shape) # Prints "[[5 6 7 8]]
(1, 4)"
# We can make the same distinction when accessing
columns of an array:
col_r1 = a[:, 1]
col_r2 = a[:, 1:2]
print(col_r1, col_r1.shape) # Prints "[ 2 6 10]
(3,)"
print(col_r2, col_r2.shape) # Prints "[[ 2]
# [ 6]
# [10]] (3,
1)"
Integer array indexing: When you index into numpy arrays using
slicing, the resulting array view will always be a subarray of the
original array. In contrast, integer array indexing allows you to
construct arbitrary arrays using the data from another array. Here is
an example:
import numpy as np
a = [Link]([[1,2], [3, 4], [5, 6]])
# An example of integer array indexing.
# The returned array will have shape (3,) and
print(a[[0, 1, 2], [0, 1, 0]]) # Prints "[1 4 5]"
# The above example of integer array indexing is
equivalent to this:
print([Link]([a[0, 0], a[1, 1], a[2, 0]])) #
Prints "[1 4 5]"
# When using integer array indexing, you can reuse
the same
# element from the source array:
print(a[[0, 0], [1, 1]]) # Prints "[2 2]"
# Equivalent to the previous integer array indexing
example
print([Link]([a[0, 1], a[0, 1]])) # Prints "[2
2]"
One useful trick with integer array indexing is selecting or mutating
one element from each row of a matrix:
import numpy as np
# Create a new array from which we will select
elements
a = [Link]([[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9], [10, 11,
12]])
print(a) # prints "array([[ 1, 2, 3],
# [ 4, 5, 6],
# [ 7, 8, 9],
# [10, 11, 12]])"
# Create an array of indices
b = [Link]([0, 2, 0, 1])
# Select one element from each row of a using the
indices in b
print(a[[Link](4), b]) # Prints "[ 1 6 7 11]"
# Mutate one element from each row of a using the
indices in b
a[[Link](4), b] += 10
print(a) # prints "array([[11, 2, 3],
# [ 4, 5, 16],
# [17, 8, 9],
# [10, 21, 12]])
Boolean array indexing: Boolean array indexing lets you pick out
arbitrary elements of an array. Frequently this type of indexing is
used to select the elements of an array that satisfy some condition.
Here is an example:
import numpy as np
a = [Link]([[1,2], [3, 4], [5, 6]])
bool_idx = (a > 2) # Find the elements of a that
are bigger than 2;
# this returns a numpy array
of Booleans of the same
# shape as a, where each slot
of bool_idx tells
# whether that element of a is
> 2.
print(bool_idx) # Prints "[[False False]
# [ True True]
# [ True True]]"
# We use boolean array indexing to construct a rank
1 array
# consisting of the elements of a corresponding to
the True values
# of bool_idx
print(a[bool_idx]) # Prints "[3 4 5 6]"
# We can do all of the above in a single concise
statement:
print(a[a > 2]) # Prints "[3 4 5 6]"
For brevity we have left out a lot of details about numpy array
indexing; if you want to know more you should read the
documentation.
Datatypes
Every numpy array is a grid of elements of the same type. Numpy
provides a large set of numeric datatypes that you can use to
construct arrays. Numpy tries to guess a datatype when you create
an array, but functions that construct arrays usually also include an
optional argument to explicitly specify the datatype. Here is an
example:
import numpy as np
x = [Link]([1, 2]) # Let numpy choose the
datatype
print([Link]) # Prints "int64"
x = [Link]([1.0, 2.0]) # Let numpy choose the
datatype
print([Link]) # Prints "float64"
x = [Link]([1, 2], dtype=np.int64) # Force a
particular datatype
print([Link]) # Prints
"int64"
You can read all about numpy datatypes in the documentation.
Array math
Basic mathematical functions operate elementwise on arrays, and are
available both as operator overloads and as functions in the numpy
module:
import numpy as np
x = [Link]([[1,2],[3,4]], dtype=np.float64)
y = [Link]([[5,6],[7,8]], dtype=np.float64)
# Elementwise sum; both produce the array
# [[ 6.0 8.0]
# [10.0 12.0]]
print(x + y)
print([Link](x, y))
# Elementwise difference; both produce the array
# [[-4.0 -4.0]
# [-4.0 -4.0]]
print(x - y)
print([Link](x, y))
# Elementwise product; both produce the array
# [[ 5.0 12.0]
# [21.0 32.0]]
print(x * y)
print([Link](x, y))
# Elementwise division; both produce the array
# [[ 0.2 0.33333333]
# [ 0.42857143 0.5 ]]
print(x / y)
print([Link](x, y))
# Elementwise square root; produces the array
# [[ 1. 1.41421356]
# [ 1.73205081 2. ]]
print([Link](x))
Note that unlike MATLAB, * is elementwise multiplication, not matrix
multiplication. We instead use the dot function to compute inner
products of vectors, to multiply a vector by a matrix, and to multiply
matrices. dot is available both as a function in the numpy module
and as an instance method of array objects:
import numpy as np
x = [Link]([[1,2],[3,4]])
y = [Link]([[5,6],[7,8]])
v = [Link]([9,10])
w = [Link]([11, 12])
# Inner product of vectors; both produce 219
print([Link](w))
print([Link](v, w))
# Matrix / vector product; both produce the rank 1
array [29 67]
print([Link](v))
print([Link](x, v))
# Matrix / matrix product; both produce the rank 2
array
# [[19 22]
# [43 50]]
print([Link](y))
print([Link](x, y))
Numpy provides many useful functions for performing computations
on arrays; one of the most useful is sum:
import numpy as np
x = [Link]([[1,2],[3,4]])
print([Link](x)) # Compute sum of all elements;
prints "10"
print([Link](x, axis=0)) # Compute sum of each
column; prints "[4 6]"
print([Link](x, axis=1)) # Compute sum of each
row; prints "[3 7]"
You can find the full list of mathematical functions provided by
numpy in the documentation.
Apart from computing mathematical functions using arrays, we
frequently need to reshape or otherwise manipulate data in arrays.
The simplest example of this type of operation is transposing a
matrix; to transpose a matrix, simply use the T attribute of an array
object:
import numpy as np
x = [Link]([[1,2], [3,4]])
print(x) # Prints "[[1 2]
# [3 4]]"
print(x.T) # Prints "[[1 3]
# [2 4]]"
# Note that taking the transpose of a rank 1 array
does nothing:
v = [Link]([1,2,3])
print(v) # Prints "[1 2 3]"
print(v.T) # Prints "[1 2 3]"
Numpy provides many more functions for manipulating arrays; you
can see the full list in the documentation.
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is a powerful mechanism that allows numpy to work
with arrays of different shapes when performing arithmetic
operations. Frequently we have a smaller array and a larger array,
and we want to use the smaller array multiple times to perform some
operation on the larger array.
For example, suppose that we want to add a constant vector to each
row of a matrix. We could do it like this:
import numpy as np
# We will add the vector v to each row of the
matrix x,
# storing the result in the matrix y
x = [Link]([[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9], [10, 11,
12]])
v = [Link]([1, 0, 1])
y = np.empty_like(x) # Create an empty matrix
with the same shape as x
# Add the vector v to each row of the matrix x with
an explicit loop
for i in range(4):
y[i, :] = x[i, :] + v
# Now y is the following
# [[ 2 2 4]
# [ 5 5 7]
# [ 8 8 10]
# [11 11 13]]
print(y)
This works; however when the matrix x is very large, computing an
explicit loop in Python could be slow. Note that adding the vector v to
each row of the matrix x is equivalent to forming a matrix vv by
stacking multiple copies of v vertically, then performing elementwise
summation of x and vv. We could implement this approach like this:
import numpy as np
# We will add the vector v to each row of the
matrix x,
# storing the result in the matrix y
x = [Link]([[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9], [10, 11,
12]])
v = [Link]([1, 0, 1])
vv = [Link](v, (4, 1)) # Stack 4 copies of v on
top of each other
print(vv) # Prints "[[1 0 1]
# [1 0 1]
# [1 0 1]
# [1 0 1]]"
y = x + vv # Add x and vv elementwise
print(y) # Prints "[[ 2 2 4
# [ 5 5 7]
# [ 8 8 10]
# [11 11 13]]"
Numpy broadcasting allows us to perform this computation without
actually creating multiple copies of v. Consider this version, using
broadcasting:
import numpy as np
# We will add the vector v to each row of the
matrix x,
# storing the result in the matrix y
x = [Link]([[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9], [10, 11,
12]])
v = [Link]([1, 0, 1])
y = x + v # Add v to each row of x using
broadcasting
print(y) # Prints "[[ 2 2 4]
# [ 5 5 7]
# [ 8 8 10]
# [11 11 13]]"
The line y = x + v works even though x has shape (4,
3) and v has shape (3,) due to broadcasting; this line works as
if v actually had shape (4, 3), where each row was a copy of v,
and the sum was performed elementwise.
Broadcasting two arrays together follows these rules:
1. If the arrays do not have the same rank, prepend the shape of the
lower rank array with 1s until both shapes have the same length.
2. The two arrays are said to be compatible in a dimension if they
have the same size in the dimension, or if one of the arrays has size
1 in that dimension.
3. The arrays can be broadcast together if they are compatible in all
dimensions.
4. After broadcasting, each array behaves as if it had shape equal to
the elementwise maximum of shapes of the two input arrays.
5. In any dimension where one array had size 1 and the other array
had size greater than 1, the first array behaves as if it were copied
along that dimension
If this explanation does not make sense, try reading the
explanation from the documentation or this explanation.
Functions that support broadcasting are known as universal
functions. You can find the list of all universal functions in the
documentation.
Here are some applications of broadcasting:
import numpy as np
# Compute outer product of vectors
v = [Link]([1,2,3]) # v has shape (3,)
w = [Link]([4,5]) # w has shape (2,)
# To compute an outer product, we first reshape v
to be a column
# vector of shape (3, 1); we can then broadcast it
against w to yield
# an output of shape (3, 2), which is the outer
product of v and w:
# [[ 4 5]
# [ 8 10]
# [12 15]]
print([Link](v, (3, 1)) * w)
# Add a vector to each row of a matrix
x = [Link]([[1,2,3], [4,5,6]])
# x has shape (2, 3) and v has shape (3,) so they
broadcast to (2, 3),
# giving the following matrix:
# [[2 4 6]
# [5 7 9]]
print(x + v)
# Add a vector to each column of a matrix
# x has shape (2, 3) and w has shape (2,).
# If we transpose x then it has shape (3, 2) and
can be broadcast
# against w to yield a result of shape (3, 2);
transposing this result
# yields the final result of shape (2, 3) which is
the matrix x with
# the vector w added to each column. Gives the
following matrix:
# [[ 5 6 7]
# [ 9 10 11]]
print((x.T + w).T)
# Another solution is to reshape w to be a column
vector of shape (2, 1);
# we can then broadcast it directly against x to
produce the same
# output.
print(x + [Link](w, (2, 1)))
# Multiply a matrix by a constant:
# x has shape (2, 3). Numpy treats scalars as
arrays of shape ();
# these can be broadcast together to shape (2, 3),
producing the
# following array:
# [[ 2 4 6]
# [ 8 10 12]]
print(x * 2)
Broadcasting typically makes your code more concise and faster, so
you should strive to use it where possible.
Numpy Documentation
This brief overview has touched on many of the important things that
you need to know about numpy, but is far from complete. Check out
the numpy reference to find out much more about numpy.