What Is NumPy?
In Python, you usually use the list data type to store a collection of items. The Python list is similar to the concept of arrays in languages like Java, C#, and JavaScript. The following code snippet shows a Python list:
list1 = [1,2,3,4,5] Unlike arrays, a Python list does not need to contain elements of the same type. The following example is a perfectly legal list in Python:
list2 = [1,"Hello",3.14,True,5] While this unique feature in Python provides flexibility when handling multiple types in a list, it has its disadvantages when processing large amounts of data (as is typical in machine learning and data science projects). The key problem with Python's list data type is its efficiency. To allow a list to have non‐uniform type items, each item in the list is stored in a memory location, with the list containing an “array” of pointers to each of these locations. A Python list requires the following:
- At least 4 bytes per pointer...
