Numpy flatten vs ravel | Difference between flatten() and ravel()

Have you ever thought, why there are two functions for transforming multi-dimensional array to one-dimensional array? Which one is best for me? flatten() or ravel(). This tutorial will answer you by comparing them one by one.

Numpy ravel() Numpy flatten()
ravel() function simply returns a flattened view of Numpy array. flatten() function returns a flattened copy of Numpy array.
If you try to modify the flattened view then you end up with that same change in the original array. Changes made to flattened array is not reflected back to the original array.
ravel() does not occupy memory so we can say that it is faster than flatten() flatten() occupies memory so it is considered slower than ravel() function.

Let's understand the second difference with the help of an example-

#Python program to clarify the difference between ravel() and flatten()
import numpy as np

print('Checking ravel()')
x = np.array([[40, 32, 67], [61, 79, 15]])
print('Original array:\n', x)
y = x.ravel()
print()
y[1] = 1000
print('Original array after making changes in flattened array:\n', x)

print('\nChecking flatten()')
a = np.array([[40, 32, 67], [61, 79, 15]])
print('Original array:\n', a)
b = a.flatten()
print()
b[1] = 1000
print('Original array after making changes in flattened array:\n', a)

Output of the above program

Checking ravel()
Original array:
 [[40 32 67]
 [61 79 15]]

Original array after making changes in flattened array:
 [[  40 1000   67]
 [  61   79   15]]

Checking flatten()
Original array:
 [[40 32 67]
 [61 79 15]]

Original array after making changes in flattened array:
 [[40 32 67]
 [61 79 15]]

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