How to identify numpy types in python?

The solution I’ve come up with is:

isinstance(y, (np.ndarray, np.generic) )

However, it’s not 100% clear that all numpy types are guaranteed to be either np.ndarray or np.generic, and this probably isn’t version robust.

To get the type, use the builtin type function. With the in operator, you can test if the type is a numpy type by checking if it contains the string numpy;

In [1]: import numpy as np

In [2]: a = np.array([1, 2, 3])

In [3]: type(a)
Out[3]: <type 'numpy.ndarray'>

In [4]: 'numpy' in str(type(a))
Out[4]: True

(This example was run in IPython, by the way. Very handy for interactive use and quick tests.)

That actually depends on what you’re looking for.

• If you want to test whether a sequence is actually a ndarray, a isinstance(..., np.ndarray) is probably the easiest. Make sure you don’t reload numpy in the background as the module may be different, but otherwise, you should be OK. MaskedArrays, matrix, recarray are all subclasses of ndarray, so you should be set.
• If you want to test whether a scalar is a numpy scalar, things get a bit more complicated. You could check whether it has a shape and a dtype attribute. You can compare its dtype to the basic dtypes, whose list you can find in np.core.numerictypes.genericTypeRank. Note that the elements of this list are strings, so you’d have to do a tested.dtype is np.dtype(an_element_of_the_list)…

Old question but I came up with a definitive answer with an example. Can’t hurt to keep questions fresh as I had this same problem and didn’t find a clear answer. The key is to make sure you have numpy imported, and then run the isinstance bool. While this may seem simple, if you are doing some computations across different data types, this small check can serve as a quick test before your start some numpy vectorized operation.

##################
# important part!
##################

import numpy as np

####################
# toy array for demo
####################

arr = np.asarray(range(1,100,2))

########################
# The instance check
######################## 

isinstance(arr,np.ndarray)

Note that the type(numpy.ndarray) is a type itself and watch out for boolean and scalar types. Don’t be too discouraged if it’s not intuitive or easy, it’s a pain at first.

See also:
– https://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy-1.15.1/reference/arrays.dtypes.html
– https://github.com/machinalis/mypy-data/tree/master/numpy-mypy

>>> import numpy as np
>>> np.ndarray
<class 'numpy.ndarray'>
>>> type(np.ndarray)
<class 'type'>
>>> a = np.linspace(1,25)
>>> type(a)
<class 'numpy.ndarray'>
>>> type(a) == type(np.ndarray)
False
>>> type(a) == np.ndarray
True
>>> isinstance(a, np.ndarray)
True

Fun with booleans:

>>> b = a.astype('int32') == 11
>>> b[0]
False
>>> isinstance(b[0], bool)
False
>>> isinstance(b[0], np.bool)
False
>>> isinstance(b[0], np.bool_)
True
>>> isinstance(b[0], np.bool8)
True
>>> b[0].dtype == np.bool
True
>>> b[0].dtype == bool  # python equivalent
True

More fun with scalar types, see:
– https://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy-1.15.1/reference/arrays.scalars.html#arrays-scalars-built-in

>>> x = np.array([1,], dtype=np.uint64)
>>> x[0].dtype
dtype('uint64')
>>> isinstance(x[0], np.uint64)
True
>>> isinstance(x[0], np.integer)
True  # generic integer
>>> isinstance(x[0], int)
False  # but not a python int in this case

# Try matching the `kind` strings, e.g.
>>> np.dtype('bool').kind                                                                                           
'b'
>>> np.dtype('int64').kind                                                                                          
'i'
>>> np.dtype('float').kind                                                                                          
'f'
>>> np.dtype('half').kind                                                                                           
'f'

# But be weary of matching dtypes
>>> np.integer
<class 'numpy.integer'>
>>> np.dtype(np.integer)
dtype('int64')
>>> x[0].dtype == np.dtype(np.integer)
False

# Down these paths there be dragons:

# the .dtype attribute returns a kind of dtype, not a specific dtype
>>> isinstance(x[0].dtype, np.dtype)
True
>>> isinstance(x[0].dtype, np.uint64)
False  
>>> isinstance(x[0].dtype, np.dtype(np.uint64))
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<console>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: isinstance() arg 2 must be a type or tuple of types
# yea, don't go there
>>> isinstance(x[0].dtype, np.int_)
False  # again, confusing the .dtype with a specific dtype


# Inequalities can be tricky, although they might
# work sometimes, try to avoid these idioms:

>>> x[0].dtype <= np.dtype(np.uint64)
True
>>> x[0].dtype <= np.dtype(np.float)
True
>>> x[0].dtype <= np.dtype(np.half)
False  # just when things were going well
>>> x[0].dtype <= np.dtype(np.float16)
False  # oh boy
>>> x[0].dtype == np.int
False  # ya, no luck here either
>>> x[0].dtype == np.int_
False  # or here
>>> x[0].dtype == np.uint64
True  # have to end on a good note!