cpython/Doc/library/array.rst

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:mod:`array` --- Efficient arrays of numeric values
===================================================
.. module:: array
Merged revisions 62021,62029,62035-62038,62043-62044,62052-62053 via svnmerge from svn+ssh://pythondev@svn.python.org/python/trunk ........ r62021 | benjamin.peterson | 2008-03-28 18:11:01 -0500 (Fri, 28 Mar 2008) | 2 lines NIL => NULL ........ r62029 | amaury.forgeotdarc | 2008-03-28 20:42:31 -0500 (Fri, 28 Mar 2008) | 3 lines Correctly call the base class tearDown(); otherwise running test_logging twice produce the errors we see on all buildbots ........ r62035 | raymond.hettinger | 2008-03-29 05:42:07 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 1 line Be explicit about what efficient means. ........ r62036 | georg.brandl | 2008-03-29 06:46:18 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 2 lines Fix capitalization. ........ r62037 | amaury.forgeotdarc | 2008-03-29 07:42:54 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 5 lines lib2to3 should install a logging handler only when run as a main program, not when used as a library. This may please the buildbots, which fail when test_lib2to3 is run before test_logging. ........ r62043 | benjamin.peterson | 2008-03-29 10:24:25 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 3 lines #2503 make singletons compared with "is" not == or != Thanks to Wummel for the patch ........ r62044 | gerhard.haering | 2008-03-29 14:11:52 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 2 lines Documented the lastrowid attribute. ........ r62052 | benjamin.peterson | 2008-03-30 14:35:10 -0500 (Sun, 30 Mar 2008) | 2 lines Updated README regarding doc formats ........ r62053 | georg.brandl | 2008-03-30 14:41:39 -0500 (Sun, 30 Mar 2008) | 2 lines The other download formats will be available for 2.6 too. ........
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:synopsis: Space efficient arrays of uniformly typed numeric values.
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.. index:: single: arrays
--------------
Merged revisions 62021,62029,62035-62038,62043-62044,62052-62053 via svnmerge from svn+ssh://pythondev@svn.python.org/python/trunk ........ r62021 | benjamin.peterson | 2008-03-28 18:11:01 -0500 (Fri, 28 Mar 2008) | 2 lines NIL => NULL ........ r62029 | amaury.forgeotdarc | 2008-03-28 20:42:31 -0500 (Fri, 28 Mar 2008) | 3 lines Correctly call the base class tearDown(); otherwise running test_logging twice produce the errors we see on all buildbots ........ r62035 | raymond.hettinger | 2008-03-29 05:42:07 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 1 line Be explicit about what efficient means. ........ r62036 | georg.brandl | 2008-03-29 06:46:18 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 2 lines Fix capitalization. ........ r62037 | amaury.forgeotdarc | 2008-03-29 07:42:54 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 5 lines lib2to3 should install a logging handler only when run as a main program, not when used as a library. This may please the buildbots, which fail when test_lib2to3 is run before test_logging. ........ r62043 | benjamin.peterson | 2008-03-29 10:24:25 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 3 lines #2503 make singletons compared with "is" not == or != Thanks to Wummel for the patch ........ r62044 | gerhard.haering | 2008-03-29 14:11:52 -0500 (Sat, 29 Mar 2008) | 2 lines Documented the lastrowid attribute. ........ r62052 | benjamin.peterson | 2008-03-30 14:35:10 -0500 (Sun, 30 Mar 2008) | 2 lines Updated README regarding doc formats ........ r62053 | georg.brandl | 2008-03-30 14:41:39 -0500 (Sun, 30 Mar 2008) | 2 lines The other download formats will be available for 2.6 too. ........
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This module defines an object type which can compactly represent an array of
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basic values: characters, integers, floating point numbers. Arrays are sequence
types and behave very much like lists, except that the type of objects stored in
them is constrained. The type is specified at object creation time by using a
:dfn:`type code`, which is a single character. The following type codes are
defined:
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| Type code | C Type | Python Type | Minimum size in bytes | Notes |
+===========+====================+===================+=======================+=======+
| ``'b'`` | signed char | int | 1 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'B'`` | unsigned char | int | 1 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'u'`` | Py_UNICODE | Unicode character | 2 | \(1) |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'h'`` | signed short | int | 2 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'H'`` | unsigned short | int | 2 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'i'`` | signed int | int | 2 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'I'`` | unsigned int | int | 2 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'l'`` | signed long | int | 4 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'L'`` | unsigned long | int | 4 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'q'`` | signed long long | int | 8 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'Q'`` | unsigned long long | int | 8 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'f'`` | float | float | 4 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
| ``'d'`` | double | float | 8 | |
+-----------+--------------------+-------------------+-----------------------+-------+
Notes:
(1)
The ``'u'`` type code corresponds to Python's obsolete unicode character
(:c:type:`Py_UNICODE` which is :c:type:`wchar_t`). Depending on the
platform, it can be 16 bits or 32 bits.
``'u'`` will be removed together with the rest of the :c:type:`Py_UNICODE`
API.
.. deprecated-removed:: 3.3 4.0
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The actual representation of values is determined by the machine architecture
(strictly speaking, by the C implementation). The actual size can be accessed
through the :attr:`itemsize` attribute.
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The module defines the following type:
Merged revisions 73930-73932,73937-73939,73945,73951,73954,73962-73963,73970 via svnmerge from svn+ssh://pythondev@svn.python.org/python/trunk ........ r73930 | amaury.forgeotdarc | 2009-07-10 12:47:42 -0400 (Fri, 10 Jul 2009) | 2 lines #6447: typo in subprocess docstring ........ r73931 | ezio.melotti | 2009-07-10 16:25:56 -0400 (Fri, 10 Jul 2009) | 1 line more cleanups and if zlib -> skipUnless(zlib) ........ r73932 | kristjan.jonsson | 2009-07-11 04:44:43 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 3 lines http://bugs.python.org/issue6460 Need to be careful with thread switching when testing the xmlrpc server. The server thread may not have updated stats when the client thread tests them. ........ r73937 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:12:36 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line Fix style. ........ r73938 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:14:54 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line #6446: fix import_spam() function to use correct error and reference handling. ........ r73939 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:18:10 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line #6448: clarify docs for find_module(). ........ r73945 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:51:31 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line #6456: clarify the meaning of constants used as arguments to nl_langinfo(). ........ r73951 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 10:23:38 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 2 lines array.array is actually a class. ........ r73954 | tarek.ziade | 2009-07-11 13:21:00 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line reverted changes for #6459 (doesn't apply on 2.x) ........ r73962 | benjamin.peterson | 2009-07-11 18:15:13 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line put downloaded test support files in Lib/test/data instead of the cwd ........ r73963 | benjamin.peterson | 2009-07-11 18:25:24 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line ignore things in Lib/test/data/ ........ r73970 | hirokazu.yamamoto | 2009-07-11 22:04:47 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line Fixed distutils test. ........
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.. class:: array(typecode[, initializer])
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Merged revisions 73930-73932,73937-73939,73945,73951,73954,73962-73963,73970 via svnmerge from svn+ssh://pythondev@svn.python.org/python/trunk ........ r73930 | amaury.forgeotdarc | 2009-07-10 12:47:42 -0400 (Fri, 10 Jul 2009) | 2 lines #6447: typo in subprocess docstring ........ r73931 | ezio.melotti | 2009-07-10 16:25:56 -0400 (Fri, 10 Jul 2009) | 1 line more cleanups and if zlib -> skipUnless(zlib) ........ r73932 | kristjan.jonsson | 2009-07-11 04:44:43 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 3 lines http://bugs.python.org/issue6460 Need to be careful with thread switching when testing the xmlrpc server. The server thread may not have updated stats when the client thread tests them. ........ r73937 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:12:36 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line Fix style. ........ r73938 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:14:54 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line #6446: fix import_spam() function to use correct error and reference handling. ........ r73939 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:18:10 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line #6448: clarify docs for find_module(). ........ r73945 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 06:51:31 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line #6456: clarify the meaning of constants used as arguments to nl_langinfo(). ........ r73951 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-11 10:23:38 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 2 lines array.array is actually a class. ........ r73954 | tarek.ziade | 2009-07-11 13:21:00 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line reverted changes for #6459 (doesn't apply on 2.x) ........ r73962 | benjamin.peterson | 2009-07-11 18:15:13 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line put downloaded test support files in Lib/test/data instead of the cwd ........ r73963 | benjamin.peterson | 2009-07-11 18:25:24 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line ignore things in Lib/test/data/ ........ r73970 | hirokazu.yamamoto | 2009-07-11 22:04:47 -0400 (Sat, 11 Jul 2009) | 1 line Fixed distutils test. ........
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A new array whose items are restricted by *typecode*, and initialized
from the optional *initializer* value, which must be a list, a
:term:`bytes-like object`, or iterable over elements of the
appropriate type.
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If given a list or string, the initializer is passed to the new array's
:meth:`fromlist`, :meth:`frombytes`, or :meth:`fromunicode` method (see below)
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to add initial items to the array. Otherwise, the iterable initializer is
passed to the :meth:`extend` method.
.. audit-event:: array.__new__ typecode,initializer array.array
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.. data:: typecodes
A string with all available type codes.
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Array objects support the ordinary sequence operations of indexing, slicing,
concatenation, and multiplication. When using slice assignment, the assigned
value must be an array object with the same type code; in all other cases,
:exc:`TypeError` is raised. Array objects also implement the buffer interface,
and may be used wherever :term:`bytes-like objects <bytes-like object>` are supported.
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The following data items and methods are also supported:
.. attribute:: array.typecode
The typecode character used to create the array.
.. attribute:: array.itemsize
The length in bytes of one array item in the internal representation.
.. method:: array.append(x)
Append a new item with value *x* to the end of the array.
.. method:: array.buffer_info()
Return a tuple ``(address, length)`` giving the current memory address and the
length in elements of the buffer used to hold array's contents. The size of the
memory buffer in bytes can be computed as ``array.buffer_info()[1] *
array.itemsize``. This is occasionally useful when working with low-level (and
inherently unsafe) I/O interfaces that require memory addresses, such as certain
:c:func:`ioctl` operations. The returned numbers are valid as long as the array
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exists and no length-changing operations are applied to it.
.. note::
When using array objects from code written in C or C++ (the only way to
effectively make use of this information), it makes more sense to use the buffer
interface supported by array objects. This method is maintained for backward
compatibility and should be avoided in new code. The buffer interface is
documented in :ref:`bufferobjects`.
.. method:: array.byteswap()
"Byteswap" all items of the array. This is only supported for values which are
1, 2, 4, or 8 bytes in size; for other types of values, :exc:`RuntimeError` is
raised. It is useful when reading data from a file written on a machine with a
different byte order.
.. method:: array.count(x)
Return the number of occurrences of *x* in the array.
.. method:: array.extend(iterable)
Append items from *iterable* to the end of the array. If *iterable* is another
array, it must have *exactly* the same type code; if not, :exc:`TypeError` will
be raised. If *iterable* is not an array, it must be iterable and its elements
must be the right type to be appended to the array.
.. method:: array.frombytes(s)
Appends items from the string, interpreting the string as an array of machine
values (as if it had been read from a file using the :meth:`fromfile` method).
.. versionadded:: 3.2
:meth:`fromstring` is renamed to :meth:`frombytes` for clarity.
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.. method:: array.fromfile(f, n)
Read *n* items (as machine values) from the :term:`file object` *f* and append
them to the end of the array. If less than *n* items are available,
:exc:`EOFError` is raised, but the items that were available are still
inserted into the array. *f* must be a real built-in file object; something
else with a :meth:`read` method won't do.
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.. method:: array.fromlist(list)
Append items from the list. This is equivalent to ``for x in list:
a.append(x)`` except that if there is a type error, the array is unchanged.
.. method:: array.fromstring()
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Deprecated alias for :meth:`frombytes`.
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.. method:: array.fromunicode(s)
Extends this array with data from the given unicode string. The array must
be a type ``'u'`` array; otherwise a :exc:`ValueError` is raised. Use
``array.frombytes(unicodestring.encode(enc))`` to append Unicode data to an
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array of some other type.
.. method:: array.index(x)
Return the smallest *i* such that *i* is the index of the first occurrence of
*x* in the array.
.. method:: array.insert(i, x)
Insert a new item with value *x* in the array before position *i*. Negative
values are treated as being relative to the end of the array.
.. method:: array.pop([i])
Removes the item with the index *i* from the array and returns it. The optional
argument defaults to ``-1``, so that by default the last item is removed and
returned.
.. method:: array.remove(x)
Remove the first occurrence of *x* from the array.
.. method:: array.reverse()
Reverse the order of the items in the array.
.. method:: array.tobytes()
Convert the array to an array of machine values and return the bytes
representation (the same sequence of bytes that would be written to a file by
the :meth:`tofile` method.)
.. versionadded:: 3.2
:meth:`tostring` is renamed to :meth:`tobytes` for clarity.
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.. method:: array.tofile(f)
Write all items (as machine values) to the :term:`file object` *f*.
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.. method:: array.tolist()
Convert the array to an ordinary list with the same items.
.. method:: array.tostring()
Deprecated alias for :meth:`tobytes`.
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.. method:: array.tounicode()
Convert the array to a unicode string. The array must be a type ``'u'`` array;
otherwise a :exc:`ValueError` is raised. Use ``array.tobytes().decode(enc)`` to
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obtain a unicode string from an array of some other type.
When an array object is printed or converted to a string, it is represented as
``array(typecode, initializer)``. The *initializer* is omitted if the array is
empty, otherwise it is a string if the *typecode* is ``'u'``, otherwise it is a
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list of numbers. The string is guaranteed to be able to be converted back to an
array with the same type and value using :func:`eval`, so long as the
:class:`~array.array` class has been imported using ``from array import array``.
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Examples::
array('l')
array('u', 'hello \u2641')
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array('l', [1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
array('d', [1.0, 2.0, 3.14])
.. seealso::
Module :mod:`struct`
Packing and unpacking of heterogeneous binary data.
Module :mod:`xdrlib`
Packing and unpacking of External Data Representation (XDR) data as used in some
remote procedure call systems.
`The Numerical Python Documentation <https://docs.scipy.org/doc/>`_
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The Numeric Python extension (NumPy) defines another array type; see
http://www.numpy.org/ for further information about Numerical Python.
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