Numpy arrays are homogeneous in nature means it is an array that contains data of a single type only. Python’s lists and tuples are unrestricted in the type of data they contain. The concept of vectorized operations on NumPy allows the use of more optimal and pre-compiled functions and mathematical operations on NumPy array objects and data sequences. The Output and Operations will speed up when compared to simple non-vectorized operations.
Example 1: Using vectorized sum method on NumPy array. We will compare the vectorized sum method along with simple non-vectorized operation i.e the iterative method to calculate the sum of numbers from 0 – 14,999.
Python3
# importing the modulesimport numpy as npimport timeit# vectorized sumprint(np.sum(np.arange(15000)))print("Time taken by vectorized sum : ", end = "")%timeit np.sum(np.arange(15000))# iterative sumtotal = 0for item in range(0, 15000): total += itema = totalprint("\n" + str(a))print("Time taken by iterative sum : ", end = "")%timeit a |
Output :
The above example shows the more optimal nature of vectorized operations of NumPy when compared with non-vectorized operations. This means when computational efficiency is the key factor in a program and we should avoid using these simple operations, rather we should use NumPy vectorized functions.
Example 2: Here we will compare NumPy exponential function with the python built-in math library exponential function to calculate the exponential value of each entry in a particular object.
Python3
# importing the modulesimport numpy as npimport timeitimport math# vectorized operationprint("Time taken by vectorized operation : ", end = "")%timeit np.exp(np.arange(150))# non-vectorized operationprint("Time taken by non-vectorized operation : ", end = "")%timeit [math.exp(item) for item in range(150)] |
Output :
Here as we can see NumPy vectorized operations are more optimized in calculating value and along with one more limitation of Python math library i.e math library range limit, as it is not suitable for very large value, unlike NumPy vectorized operation which can be used to calculate the exponential value of very large range limit as well.
The above two examples justify the optimal nature of NumPy vectorized functions and operations when compared and used in place of simple or non-vectorized functions or operations in a python program or script.
