Initialize Matrix in Python

Sometimes in the world of competitive programming, we need to initialize 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 initialize the inner list and then extend this logic to each row again using the list comprehension.

Python3

# 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))

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.

Python3

# 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))

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.

Python3

# 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))

Output

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

Last Updated on March 1, 2022 by admin

Initialize Matrix in Python