How to Work with Multidimensional Arrays in Python: A Beginner’s Guide

Dr. Soumen Atta, Ph.D.
6 min readApr 8, 2023
Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash

Multidimensional arrays, also known as “nested arrays” or “arrays of arrays,” are an essential data structure in computer programming. In Python, multidimensional arrays can be implemented using lists, tuples, or numpy arrays. In this tutorial, we will cover the basics of creating, indexing, and manipulating multidimensional arrays in Python.

Creating Multidimensional Arrays

Using Lists

One way to create a multidimensional array in Python is by using a list of lists. Each element in the list represents a row in the array, and each sub-list represents the elements in that row. Here’s an example of how to create a 2D array using a list of lists:

# Create a 2D array using a list of lists
my_array = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]

To create a 3D array, we can extend this approach by using a list of lists of lists:

# Create a 3D array using a list of lists of lists
my_array = [[[1, 2], [3, 4]], [[5, 6], [7, 8]]]

--

--

Dr. Soumen Atta, Ph.D.

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Faculty of IT, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. You can find more about me on my homepage: https://www.soumenatta.com/