Initialize Matrix in Python

Sometimes in the world of competitive programming, we need to initialise the matrix, but we don’t wish to do it in a longer way using a loop. We need a shorthand for this. This type of problem is quite common in dynamic programming domain. Let’s discuss certain ways in which this can be done.
Method #1 : Using List comprehension 
List comprehension can be treated as a shorthand for performing this particular operation. In list comprehension, we can initialise the inner list and then extend this logic to each row again using the list comprehension.
 

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# Python3 code to demonstrate
# initializing matrix
# using list comprehension
 
# Declaring rows
N = 5
 
# Declaring columns
M = 4
 
# using list comprehension
# to initializing matrix
res = [ [ 0 for i in range(M) ] for j in range(N) ]
 
# printing result
print("The matrix after initializing : " + str(res))

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Output


The matrix after initializing : [[0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0]]





 
Method #2 : Using list comprehension + “*” operator 
This problem can also be simplified using the * operator which can slightly reduce the tedious way task is done and can simply use multiply operator to extent the initialization to all N rows.
 




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# Python3 code to demonstrate 


# initializing matrix


# using list comprehension


# and * operator


 


# Declaring rows


N = 5


 


# Declaring columns


M = 4


 


# using list comprehension 


# to initializing matrix


res = [ [0 for i in range(M)]] * N


 


# printing result 


print("The matrix after initializing : " + str(res))



















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Output


The matrix after initializing : [[0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0]]





Method #3 : Using + “*” operator twice 
Similar to above example we can also initialize the columns using “*” operator twice.
 




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# Python3 code to demonstrate 


# initializing matrix


# * operator twice


 


# By: Pushpak Jalan, Tezpur University


 


# Declaring rows


N = 5


 


# Declaring columns


M = 4


 


# Using * operator twice to initialize matrix


res = [[0] * M] * N


 


# printing result 


print("The matrix after initializing : " + str(res))



















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Output


The matrix after initializing : [[0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0, 0]]








    

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