ufunc 'add' did not contain loop with signature matching types

# ufunc 'add' did not contain loop with signature matching types

The error "ufunc 'add' did not contain a loop with signature matching types" occurs when you try to compute a value but your array contains multiple types, e.g. integers and strings.

To solve the error, use the astype() method to convert the values in the array to integers or floats.

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, '13', '15'])

# ⛔️ numpy.core._exceptions._UFuncNoLoopError: ufunc 'add' did not contain a loop with signature matching types (dtype('<U21'), dtype('<U21')) -> None
mean = np.mean(arr)

ufunc add did not contain loop with signature matching types

We tried to calculate the average of the array elements, however, the array contains integers and strings.

To solve the error, use the numpy.astype() method to create a copy of the array cast to a specific type.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, '13', '15'])

arr = arr.astype(float)

mean = np.mean(arr)

print(mean)  # 👉️ 8.0

make all array elements consistent type

The code for this article is available on GitHub

We passed the float() class to the astype() method to convert all array elements to floating-point numbers before calling numpy.mean().

If you need to convert the elements to integers, use the int() class instead.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, '13', '15'])

# 👇️ using `int` class.
arr = arr.astype(int)
print(arr) # 👉️ [ 1  3  5  7  9 11 13 15]

mean = np.mean(arr)

print(mean)  # 👉️ 8.0

The code for this article is available on GitHub

Similarly, if you need to convert all elements to strings, use the str class.

All array elements must be the same type to solve the error.

Here is another example of how the error occurs.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, '13', '15'])

# ⛔️ numpy.core._exceptions._UFuncNoLoopError: ufunc 'add' did not contain a loop with signature matching types (dtype('<U21'), dtype('<U21')) -> None
total = arr.sum()

The array contains integers and strings, so calling sum() directly is not allowed.

To solve the error, use the astype() method to convert all elements in the array to integers (or floats).

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, '13', '15'])

arr = arr.astype(int)

total = arr.sum()

print(total)  # 👉️ 64

convert all elements in the array to integers before computation

# Setting the `dtype` when creating the array

You can also set the dtype (data type) when creating the array to solve the error.

main.py

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import numpy as np

arr = np.array([1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, '13', '15'], dtype=float)

mean = np.mean(arr)

print(mean) # 👉️ 8.0

set data type of array explicitly

The code for this article is available on GitHub

We explicitly set the data type of the array to float, so all non-float values will get converted to floating-point numbers when the array is created.

# Solving the error when working with DataFrames or Series

You might also get the error when working with DataFrame or Series objects.

The solution is the same - you have to convert the values in the row to a consistent type.

main.py

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import pandas

df = pandas.DataFrame({
    'name': ['Alice', 'Bobby', 'Carl'],
    'age': [30, 40, '50'],
    'salary': [75, 50, '100']
})

mean = df['age'].astype(int).mean()

print(mean) # 👉️ 40.0

using apply to solve the error

The code for this article is available on GitHub

We used the astype() method to convert the values in the age column to integers before calling mean().

You can also use the apply() method to achieve the same result.

main.py

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import pandas

df = pandas.DataFrame({
    'name': ['Alice', 'Bobby', 'Carl'],
    'age': [30, 40, '50'],
    'salary': [75, 50, '100']
})

mean = df['age'].apply(int).mean()

print(mean)  # 👉️ 40.0

using apply to solve the error

The code for this article is available on GitHub

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

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ufunc 'add' did not contain loop with signature matching types