Re: [Numpy-discussion] bad generator behaviour with sum

[Robert K. <rob...@gm...>]

lis...@ma... wrote:
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> On Aug 27, 2006, at 4:19 PM, numpy-discussion- 
> re...@li... wrote:
> 
>>> It seems like numpy.sum breaks generator expressions:
>>>
>>> In [1]: sum(i*i for i in range(10))
>>> Out[1]: 285
>>>
>>> In [2]: from numpy import sum
>>>
>>> In [3]: sum(i*i for i in range(10))
>>> Out[3]: <generator object at 0x10eca58>
>>>
>>> Is this intentional? If so, how do I get the behaviour that I am  
>>> after?
>>>
>>
>> In [3]: sum([i*i for i in range(10)])
>> Out[3]: 285
> 
> Well, thats a list comprehension, not a generator expression. I was  
> after the latter because it is more efficient.

Not really. Any numpy functions that would automatically create an array from an 
__len__-less iterator will have to convert it to a list first. That said, some 
cases for numpy.sum() might be handled by passing the argument to 
__builtin__.sum(), but it might be tricky devising a robust rule for when that 
happens. Consequently, I would like to avoid doing so.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco