Signature: np.diff(a, n=1, axis=-1)
Docstring:
Calculate the n-th discrete difference along the given axis.
The first difference is given by ``out[n] = a[n+1] - a[n]`` along
the given axis, higher differences are calculated by using `diff`
recursively.
Parameters
----------
a : array_like
Input array
n : int, optional
The number of times values are differenced. If zero, the input
is returned as-is.
axis : int, optional
The axis along which the difference is taken, default is the
last axis.
Returns
-------
diff : ndarray
The n-th differences. The shape of the output is the same as `a`
except along `axis` where the dimension is smaller by `n`. The
type of the output is the same as the type of the difference
between any two elements of `a`. This is the same as the type of
`a` in most cases. A notable exception is `datetime64`, which
results in a `timedelta64` output array.
See Also
--------
gradient, ediff1d, cumsum
Notes
-----
Type is preserved for boolean arrays, so the result will contain
`False` when consecutive elements are the same and `True` when they
differ.
For unsigned integer arrays, the results will also be unsigned. This
should not be surprising, as the result is consistent with
calculating the difference directly:
>>> u8_arr = np.array([1, 0], dtype=np.uint8)
>>> np.diff(u8_arr)
array([255], dtype=uint8)
>>> u8_arr[1,...] - u8_arr[0,...]
array(255, np.uint8)
If this is not desirable, then the array should be cast to a larger
integer type first:
>>> i16_arr = u8_arr.astype(np.int16)
>>> np.diff(i16_arr)
array([-1], dtype=int16)
Examples
--------
>>> x = np.array([1, 2, 4, 7, 0])
>>> np.diff(x)
array([ 1, 2, 3, -7])
>>> np.diff(x, n=2)
array([ 1, 1, -10])
>>> x = np.array([[1, 3, 6, 10], [0, 5, 6, 8]])
>>> np.diff(x)
array([[2, 3, 4],
[5, 1, 2]])
>>> np.diff(x, axis=0)
array([[-1, 2, 0, -2]])
>>> x = np.arange('1066-10-13', '1066-10-16', dtype=np.datetime64)
>>> np.diff(x)
array([1, 1], dtype='timedelta64[D]')
File: ~/local/anaconda3/envs/py37/lib/python3.7/site-packages/numpy/lib/function_base.py
Type: function