cf.Data.first_element

Data.first_element()[source]

Return the first element of the data as a scalar.

Performance

If possible, a cached value is returned. Otherwise the delayed operations needed to compute the element are executed, and cached for subsequent calls.

Returns

The first element of the data.

Examples

>>> d = cf.Data(9.0)
>>> x = d.first_element()
>>> print(x, type(x))
9.0 <class 'float'>
>>> d = cf.Data([[1, 2], [3, 4]])
>>> x = d.first_element()
>>> print(x, type(x))
1 <class 'int'>
>>> d[0, 0] = cf.masked
>>> y = d.first_element()
>>> print(y, type(y))
-- <class 'numpy.ma.core.MaskedConstant'>
>>> d = cf.Data(['foo', 'bar'])
>>> x = d.first_element()
>>> print(x, type(x))
foo <class 'str'>