[Numpy-discussion] array allocation using tuples gives views of same array

[George Nurser]

I tried the (as I thought) nice compact form
In [60]: a,b = (zeros((2,)),)*2

But...

In [61]: b[0] = 2

In [62]: a
Out[62]: array([ 2.,  0.])

a and b are the _same_ array....

But
In [68]: a,b = (zeros((2,)),zeros((2,)))

In [69]: b[0] = 2

In [70]: a
Out[70]: array([ 0.,  0.])

is OK. a & b are independent in this case.

I'm puzzled by this behaviour, I suspect because of my ignorance of
how tuples work.

It looks to me like
a,b = (zeros((2,)),)*2
is equivalent to
x= zeros((2,))
a,b=(x,)*2

If this is indeed a feature rather than a bug, is there an alternative
compact way to allocate many arrays?


Regards, George.