How to convert two lists into a matrix?

Given two Python lists, we have to convert them into a NumPy matrix.
By Pranit Sharma Last updated : December 21, 2023

NumPy is an abbreviated form of Numerical Python. It is used for different types of scientific operations in python. Numpy is a vast library in python which is used for almost every kind of scientific or mathematical operation. It is itself an array which is a collection of various methods and functions for processing the arrays.

Problem statement

Suppose that we are given two 1D lists and we need to convert these lists into a matrix.

Converting two lists into a matrix

To convert two lists into a matrix, we can use numpy.column_stack() which is used to stack 1-D arrays as columns into a 2-D array. It takes a sequence of 1-D arrays and stacks them as columns to make a single 2-D array. 2-D arrays are stacked as-is, just like with hstack.

1-D arrays are turned into 2-D columns first. It takes a single parameter called tup which is a sequence of 1-d or 2-D arrays and it returns an array formed by stacking the given arrays.

Let us understand with the help of an example,

Python program to convert two lists into a matrix

# Import numpy
import numpy as np

# Creating two lists
l1 = [1,2,1,0]
l2 = [1,2,1,0]

# Display original lists
print("Original list 1:\n",l1,"\n")
print("Original list 2:\n",l2,"\n")

# Converting two lists into a matrix
res = np.column_stack((l1,l2))

# Display Result
print("Result:\n",res)