Is there a NumPy function to return the first index of something in an array?

Question

I know there is a method for a Python list to return the first index of something:

>>> l = [1, 2, 3]
>>> l.index(2)
1

Is

Answer 1

If you're going to use this as an index into something else, you can use boolean indices if the arrays are broadcastable; you don't need explicit indices. The absolute simplest way to do this is to simply index based on a truth value.

other_array[first_array == item]

Any boolean operation works:

a = numpy.arange(100)
other_array[first_array > 50]

The nonzero method takes booleans, too:

index = numpy.nonzero(first_array == item)[0][0]

The two zeros are for the tuple of indices (assuming first_array is 1D) and then the first item in the array of indices.