[Numpy-discussion] numpy.random.shuffle

[Christopher Barker]

Robert Kern wrote:
> This is really a thinko on my part.

What, exactly, is a thinko?

> I copied the algorithm from Python's random
> module. At the core of it is a set of swaps:
> 
>     x[i], x[j] = x[j], x[i]
> 
> With the kind of sequences that the stdlib random module is expecting, that
> makes perfect sense. However, with N-dim arrays (N > 1), x[i] is a *view* into
> the array. By the time that x[j] = x[i] gets executed, x[i] = x[j] has already
> executed and the underlying memory that x[i] points to has been modified.

wouldn't something like:

temp = x[i].copy()
x[i], x[j] = x[j], temp

work?

In any case, it should raise an error if ndim > 1, rather than giving a 
wrong result.

-Chris


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Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
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