Why are the numpy tuple indexing behaviors inconsistent? Please explain the rational or design decision behind these behaviors. In my understanding, Z[(0,2)] and Z[(0, 2), (0)] are both tuple indexing and expected the consistent behavior for copy/view. If this is incorrect, please explain,
import numpy as np
Z = np.arange(36).reshape(3, 3, 4)
print("Z is \n{}\n".format(Z))
b = Z[
(0,2) # Select Z[0][2]
]
print("Tuple indexing Z[(0,2)] is \n{}\nIs view? {}\n".format(
b,
b.base is not None
))
c = Z[ # Select Z[0][0][1] & Z[0][2][1]
(0,2),
(0)
]
print("Tuple indexing Z[(0, 2), (0)] is \n{}\nIs view? {}\n".format(
c,
c.base is not None
))
Z is
[[[ 0 1 2 3]
[ 4 5 6 7]
[ 8 9 10 11]]
[[12 13 14 15]
[16 17 18 19]
[20 21 22 23]]
[[24 25 26 27]
[28 29 30 31]
[32 33 34 35]]]
Tuple indexing Z[(0,2)] is
[ 8 9 10 11]
Is view? True
Tuple indexing Z[(0, 2), (0)] is
[[ 0 1 2 3]
[24 25 26 27]]
Is view? False
Numpy indexing is confusing and wonder how people built the understanding. If there is a good way to understand or cheat-sheets, please advise.
It's the comma that creates a tuple. The () just set boundaries where needed.
Thus
Z[(0,2)]
Z[0,2]
are the same, select on the first 2 dimension. Whether that returns an element, or an array depends on how many dimensions Z has.
The same interpretation applies to the other case.
Z[(0, 2), (0)]
Z[( np.array([0,2]), 0)]
Z[ np.array([0,2]), 0]
are the same - the first dimensions is indexed with a list/array, and thus is advanced indexing. It's a copy.
[ 8 9 10 11]
is a row of the 3d array; its a contiguous block of Z
[[ 0 1 2 3]
[24 25 26 27]]
is 2 rows from Z. They aren't contiguous, so there's no way of identifying them with just shape and strides (and offset in the databuffer).
__array_interface__ gives details about the underlying data of an array
In [146]: Z = np.arange(36).reshape(3,3,4)
In [147]: Z.__array_interface__
Out[147]:
{'data': (38255712, False),
'strides': None,
'descr': [('', '<i8')],
'typestr': '<i8',
'shape': (3, 3, 4),
'version': 3}
In [148]: Z.strides
Out[148]: (96, 32, 8)
For the view:
In [149]: Z1 = Z[0,2]
In [150]: Z1
Out[150]: array([ 8, 9, 10, 11])
In [151]: Z1.__array_interface__
Out[151]:
{'data': (38255776, False), # 38255712+8*8
'strides': None,
'descr': [('', '<i8')],
'typestr': '<i8',
'shape': (4,),
'version': 3}
The data buffer pointer is 8 elements further along in Z buffer. Shape is much reduced.
In [152]: Z2 = Z[[0,2],0]
In [153]: Z2
Out[153]:
array([[ 0, 1, 2, 3],
[24, 25, 26, 27]])
In [154]: Z2.__array_interface__
Out[154]:
{'data': (31443104, False), # an entirely different location
'strides': None,
'descr': [('', '<i8')],
'typestr': '<i8',
'shape': (2, 4),
'version': 3}
Z2 is the same as two selections:
In [158]: Z[0,0]
Out[158]: array([0, 1, 2, 3])
In [159]: Z[2,0]
Out[159]: array([24, 25, 26, 27])
It is not
Z[0][0][1] & Z[0][2][1]
Z[0,0,1] & Z[0,2,1]
Compare that with a 2 row slice:
In [156]: Z3 = Z[0:2,0]
In [157]: Z3.__array_interface__
Out[157]:
{'data': (38255712, False), # same as Z's
'strides': (96, 8),
'descr': [('', '<i8')],
'typestr': '<i8',
'shape': (2, 4),
'version': 3}
A view is returned if the new array can be described with shape, strides and all or part of the original data buffer.