Returning arrays of different dimensions from one function; is it possible in F#?

Question

I am trying to convert some Python to F#, specifically numpy.random.randn.

The function takes a variable number of int arguments and returns arrays of different dim

Answer 1

You are correct - an array of floats float[] is a different type than array of arrays of floats
float[][] or 2D array of floats float[,] and so you cannot write a function that returns one or the other depending on the input argument.

If you wanted to do something like the Python's rand, you could write an overloaded method:

type Random() = 
  static let rnd = System.Random()
  static member Rand(n) = [| for i in 1 .. n -> rnd.NextDouble() |]
  static member Rand(n1, n2) = [| for i in 1 .. n1 -> Random.Rand(n2) |]
  static member Rand(n1, n2, n3) = [| for i in 1 .. n1 -> Random.Rand(n2, n3) |]