Array{Float32} literal?

New to Julia
1

We can get a Vector{Float32} literal with

a = [1.0f0, 2.0f0, 3.0f0, 4.0f0]

but it’s a bit tedious. I can think of

a = map(i->Float32(i), [1,2,3,4])

Is there a better way?

I imagine that something like this

a = [1, 2, 3, 4]::Vector{Float32}

might be available (similarly to Haskell’s a = [1,2,3,4]::[Float]).

2

Float32[1,2,3,4]

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[1f0, 2f0, 3f0, 4f0]
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4

By the way, this is better written as

a = map(Float32, [1,2,3,4])  # no need for making an anonymous function

which is better written as

a = Float32.([1,2,3,4])

which is better written as

a = Float32[1,2,3,4]
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5

Thank you all for your help!

I understand all the answers, except for

Float32[1,2,3,4]

My question is, what is this?

Is the above equivalent to Float32.([1,2,3,4])? No. Because

julia> func = x -> 3*x
#1 (generic function with 1 method)

julia> func.([1,2,3])
3-element Vector{Int64}:
 3
 6
 9

julia> func[1,2,3]
ERROR: MethodError: no method matching getindex(::var"#1#2", ::Int64, ::Int64, ::Int64)
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6

https://docs.julialang.org/en/v1/manual/arrays/#Typed-array-literals

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By the way, you can actually do this with local bindings[1]

julia> let a::Vector{Float32} = [1,2,3,4]
    a
end
4-element Vector{Float32}:
 1.0
 2.0
 3.0
 4.0

Though, be aware that this allocates two arrays, one that is [1,2,3,4] and a new one from the implicit call to convert(Vector{Float32}, [1,2,3,4]). One day Julia May be able to optimize away that allocation, but currently it cannot.

Though I guess you could instead write

julia> let a::Vector{Float32} = 1:4
    a
end
4-element Vector{Float32}:
 1.0
 2.0
 3.0
 4.0

[1] in version 1.8, this will be possible even in the global scope

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8 
T[1,2,3]

makes an array with elements of type T. It is better than T.([1,2,3]), because the latter will first make a Vector{Int}, and then convert it to a Vector{T}, while T[1,2,3] will directly create the wanted array type, no extra allocation.

This doesn’t work since func isn’t a type (or, technically, because it has no getindex method.)

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9

Single- and multi-dimensional Arrays · The Julia Language

Thanks! That clearly shows that I should search the official Julia documentation rather than Google. A Google search for “Julia array literal” didn’t (quickly enough) lead me to this answer.

Reading the other answers (Thank you all!), I now understand that T[1,2,3,4] really is the syntax for array literal.

I’ve also learned that the type annotation works only on variables, not on literals.

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a::Vector{Float32} = [1,2,3,4]
. . . . . . . . . . .
[1] in version 1.8, this will be possible even in the global scope

Ah, that was what the error message meant, when I first tried that on my global variable before posting my initial question here!

Anyway, I understand your explanation that an allocation happens on the right-hand side.

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The first result for me is the Multi-dimensional Arrays. And the section Array literals is in the page.

Problems for me are that

  • two subsections of it, Concatenation and Typed array literals aren’t listed in the section list in the left pane, and
  • the Concatenation section is rather long and doesn’t show the Typed array literals section at glance.

Would it be better to either

  • swap the order of the sections in the doc, or
  • show subsections under selected section in the navigator?
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