first and last index as in matlab

[Robert Kern]

Beliavsky wrote:
> Evan wrote:
>> In matlab I can do the following:
>>
>>>> ind = [3,5,7,2,4,7,8,24]
>> ind = 3     5     7     2     4     7     8    24
>>>> ind(1)      ans =     3
>>>> ind(end)     ans =    24
>>>> ind([1 end])      ans =      3    24
>> but I can't get the last line in python:
>>
>> In [690]: ind = [3,5,7,2,4,7,8,24]
>> In [691]: ind[0]    Out[691]: 3
>> In [692]: ind[-1:]  Out[692]: [24]
>> In [693]:  ??
>>
>> How do I pull out multiple indices as in matlab?
> 
> If you want functionality similar to Matlab in Python, you should use
> Numpy, which has the "take" function to do what you want.

Actually, in numpy, we also have "fancy indexing" similar to Matlab's:


In [1]: from numpy import *

In [2]: ind = array([3,5,7,2,4,7,8,24])

In [3]: ind[[0, -1]]
Out[3]: array([ 3, 24])


-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco