How To Print a Matrix in Python?

Outline: To print a matrix in Python use –

• numpy. array() method, or,
• numpy.matrix class, or,
• a list comprehension + join() method
• join() + map() methods

❖ Overview

A matrix is a two-dimensional data structure consisting of elements arranged in rows and columns. For example:

The above figure represents a 4×3 matrix since it has four rows and three columns.

Now that you know what a matrix is let us dive into the mission-critical question –

Problem Statement: Given a matrix as an input, how will you print and display it as an output in Python?

You might be wondering – “Can’t I simply print the matrix by storing it in a variable?”🤔 Unfortunately, it won’t print the input matrix. Instead, it will generate a list of lists, as shown below.

❖ Method 1: Using The NumPy Library

Python comes with a multitude of extremely powerful libraries which allow you to work with huge amounts of data with ease.

NumPy is a library in Python that is used for scientific computing and supports powerful functions to deal with N-dimensional array objects. It also provides us with functions for working in the domains of linear algebra, fourier transform, and matrices.

📓 Note: You need to install NumPy before you can use it. You can install it using –

pip install numpy

Let’s have a look at the different ways to create and print a matrix in Python using NumPy.

1️⃣ Using numpy.array()

The array() method of the NumPy library allows you to create a matrix object.

Example:

Output:

[[0 1 4 2 3]
[4 2 0 1 5]
[2 2 1 0 3]
[3 4 5 3 0]]

2️⃣ Using numpy.matrix()

The numpy.matrix() class returns a matrix from an array-like object or a string of data.

Syntax:

numpy.matrix(data, dtype = None)

Example:

Output:

[[0 1 4 2 3]
[4 2 0 1 5]
[2 2 1 0 3]
[3 4 5 3 0]]

⚠️Caution: It is not recommended to use this class anymore. Instead, you should opt for regular arrays. The class may be removed/deprecated in the future.

✨ TRIVIA

❖ Method 2: Using List Comprehension and join

✏️ In simple words, a list comprehension is a crisp and compact way of creating Python lists.

Syntax: [expression for item in iterable if condition == True]

Example:

✏️ join() is a function in Python that takes the items of an iterable and combines them into a single string.

Example:

Thus, you can leverage the functionality of a list comprehension along with the join method to print a matrix.

Example:

Output:

0 1 4 2 3
4 2 0 1 5
2 2 1 0 3
3 4 5 3 0

You can also use a nested for loop to replicate the above concept.

But, the above code will result in 24 print statements as opposed to a single print statement in case of the list comprehension.

❖ Method 3: Using join()+map()

✏️ map( ) is an inbuilt method in Python that takes a function and an iterable as an input. It then executes the function by passing the iterable as an input to the function.

Syntax:

map(function, iterables)

Example:

Output:

0 1 4 2 3
4 2 0 1 5
2 2 1 0 3
3 4 5 3 0

Explanation:

• the for loop allows you to iterate through each individual array/row within the matrix.
• map(str, i) converts all the items within each row to a string and then,
• '\t'.join combines the individual items in a single string, and then each row gets printed one by one.

Conclusion

Thus, this article unveiled numerous methods to print a matrix in Python. The simplest and the most effective way to print a matrix in Python is undoubtedly the numpy.array() method as it takes care of all arrangements and dimensions without any interference for the user.

Read here: [Fixed] ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘numpy’

With that, we come to the end of this tutorial. Please subscribe and stay tuned for more interesting discussions in the future. Happy coding! 📚