Using numpy to build an array of all combinations of two arrays

Question

I\'m trying to run over the parameters space of a 6 parameter function to study it\'s numerical behavior before trying to do anything complex with it so I\'m searching for a

Answer 1

Here's yet another way, using pure NumPy, no recursion, no list comprehension, and no explicit for loops. It's about 20% slower than the original answer, and it's based on np.meshgrid.

def cartesian(*arrays):
    mesh = np.meshgrid(*arrays)  # standard numpy meshgrid
    dim = len(mesh)  # number of dimensions
    elements = mesh[0].size  # number of elements, any index will do
    flat = np.concatenate(mesh).ravel()  # flatten the whole meshgrid
    reshape = np.reshape(flat, (dim, elements)).T  # reshape and transpose
    return reshape

For example,

x = np.arange(3)
a = cartesian(x, x, x, x, x)
print(a)

gives

[[0 0 0 0 0]
 [0 0 0 0 1]
 [0 0 0 0 2]
 ..., 
 [2 2 2 2 0]
 [2 2 2 2 1]
 [2 2 2 2 2]]