[python] How to represent matrices in python

How can I represent matrices in python?

This question is related to python matrix

The answer is


If you are not going to use the NumPy library, you can use the nested list. This is code to implement the dynamic nested list (2-dimensional lists).

Let r is the number of rows

let r=3

m=[]
for i in range(r):
    m.append([int(x) for x in raw_input().split()])

Any time you can append a row using

m.append([int(x) for x in raw_input().split()])

Above, you have to enter the matrix row-wise. To insert a column:

for i in m:
    i.append(x) # x is the value to be added in column

To print the matrix:

print m       # all in single row

for i in m:
    print i   # each row in a different line

((1,2,3,4),
 (5,6,7,8),
 (9,0,1,2))

Using tuples instead of lists makes it marginally harder to change the data structure in unwanted ways.

If you are going to do extensive use of those, you are best off wrapping a true number array in a class, so you can define methods and properties on them. (Or, you could NumPy, SciPy, ... if you are going to do your processing with those libraries.)


Python doesn't have matrices. You can use a list of lists or NumPy