In numpy, why is it ok to do matrix.mean(), but not ok to do matrix.median()?

[C W]

Thanks, Chris. That makes sense. The len() example is great!

On Tue, May 1, 2018 at 10:37 PM, Chris Angelico <rosuav at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, May 2, 2018 at 12:22 PM, C W <tmrsg11 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > It's interesting how mean() can be implemented, but median() will break
> > other packages.
> >
> > So, the default way in numpy is to use functions, not methods?
> >
> > When I first learned Python, I was told to create an object and to play
> > around, there are methods for that object. List has list methods, tuple
> has
> > tuple methods, etc.
> >
> > Now, the default way in numpy is to use function instead of methods? I'm
> > confused. What happened to object-oriented programming?
>
> Even outside of numpy, a lot of Python uses functions, not methods.
> One good reason for this is that a function can accept a wide variety
> of data types as its argument; for instance, len() accepts many
> things, not just lists. Some things are done with methods, others with
> stand-alone functions. There are design choices each way.
>
> ChrisA
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