On Mar 29, 2007, at 6:48 PM, Alan G Isaac wrote:
> On Thu, 29 Mar 2007, Bill Spotz apparently wrote:
>> What I envisioned was that M[i,:] would return
>> a row_vector and M[:,j] would return a column_vector,
>> because this would be symmetric behavior. M[i], by
>> convention, would behave the same as M[i,:].
>
> Can you please be explicit about the value added by that
> convention, as you see it?
I assume by "convention" you are referring to the convention that M
[i] is M[i,:] is a row_vector. I see it as a design decision:
Does M[i] mean something?
No:
Then raise an exception. If users want to iterate over M,
this forces them to use the double index notation to specify
what they are iterating over. I would find this acceptable.
Yes:
What should M[i] represent/return?
Array representing row vector:
Array representing column vector:
I would argue against linear algebra objects returning raw
arrays because their meaning/interface can be ambiguous, as
this thread demonstrates
row_vector:
Reasonable choice, analogous to conventional mathematical
notation
column_vector:
Reasonable choice, but less analogous to conventional
mathematical notation
Of all the choices, raising an exception and returning a row_vector
are (in my opinion, anyway) the best. Unless someone has a better
argument.
> Thank you,
> Alan Isaac
>
> PS I assume your "vector" class would always accept a single index,
> for both row and column vectors? What is the return type of v[i]?
My best guess at a best design would be that it would return a scalar.
And yes, vectors would always accept a single index. But because
they are matrices, they would accept two indexes as well.
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** Bill Spotz **
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