Data Types (dtypes)

Overview

numpy-ts supports 14 data types that mirror NumPy’s numeric type system. Every NDArray has a single dtype that determines how its elements are stored in memory and how arithmetic behaves.

Supported dtypes

dtype	TypedArray backing	Byte size	Range
`float64`	`Float64Array`	8	~-1.8e308 to ~1.8e308 (64-bit IEEE 754)
`float32`	`Float32Array`	4	~-3.4e38 to ~3.4e38 (32-bit IEEE 754)
`float16`	`Float16Array` (fallback: `Float32Array`)	2	~-65504 to ~65504 (16-bit IEEE 754)
`int64`	`BigInt64Array`	8	-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
`int32`	`Int32Array`	4	-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
`int16`	`Int16Array`	2	-32,768 to 32,767
`int8`	`Int8Array`	1	-128 to 127
`uint64`	`BigUint64Array`	8	0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615
`uint32`	`Uint32Array`	4	0 to 4,294,967,295
`uint16`	`Uint16Array`	2	0 to 65,535
`uint8`	`Uint8Array`	1	0 to 255
`bool`	`Uint8Array`	1	0 or 1
`complex128`	`Float64Array` (interleaved)	16	Two float64 values (real + imaginary)
`complex64`	`Float32Array` (interleaved)	8	Two float32 values (real + imaginary)

Default dtype

When you create an array without specifying a dtype, numpy-ts uses float64, matching NumPy:

import * as np from 'numpy-ts';

const a = np.array([1, 2, 3]);
a.dtype;  // 'float64'

Creating arrays with specific dtypes

Pass the dtype option to any creation function:

const a = np.array([1, 2, 3], { dtype: 'int32' });
const b = np.zeros([3, 3], 'float32');
const c = np.ones([2, 4], 'uint8');
const d = np.arange(0, 10, 1, 'int16');
const e = np.linspace(0, 1, 100, { dtype: 'float32' });

BigInt for int64 and uint64

JavaScript number only has 53 bits of integer precision. For full 64-bit integer support, numpy-ts uses BigInt64Array and BigUint64Array under the hood. This means int64 and uint64 arrays exchange values as bigint, not number.

When working with int64 or uint64 arrays, get() returns bigint and set() expects bigint. Mixing number and bigint in JavaScript throws a TypeError, so be explicit about conversions.

const a = np.array([1, 2, 3], { dtype: 'int64' });

// Getting values returns bigint
const val = a.get([0]);  // 1n (bigint)

// Setting values requires bigint
a.set([0], 100n);

// toArray() returns bigints
a.toArray();  // [100n, 2n, 3n]

// Converting between number and bigint
const num = Number(val);    // bigint -> number
const big = BigInt(42);     // number -> bigint

Complex numbers

numpy-ts provides a Complex class for complex number support, with two complex dtypes:

complex128 — each element is a pair of float64 values (real, imaginary)
complex64 — each element is a pair of float32 values (real, imaginary)

import { array, Complex } from 'numpy-ts';

// Create a complex array
const z = array([new Complex(1, 2), new Complex(3, 4)], { dtype: 'complex128' });
z.dtype;  // 'complex128'

// Access real and imaginary parts
const elem = z.get([0]);  // Complex { re: 1, im: 2 }
elem.re;  // 1
elem.im;  // 2

// Extract real/imaginary arrays
import { real, imag } from 'numpy-ts';
real(z).toArray();  // [1, 3]
imag(z).toArray();  // [2, 4]

The Complex class supports arithmetic:

const a = new Complex(1, 2);
const b = new Complex(3, -1);

a.add(b);    // Complex { re: 4, im: 1 }
a.mul(b);    // Complex { re: 5, im: 5 }
a.abs();     // 2.236...  (magnitude)
a.conj();    // Complex { re: 1, im: -2 }
a.toString(); // "(1+2j)"

Float16 support

numpy-ts includes a float16 dtype with automatic fallback for broad runtime compatibility.

Uses native Float16Array on modern runtimes (Node 23+, Chrome 127+, Firefox 129+, Safari 18.2+).
Falls back to Float32Array on older runtimes — float16 always works, no runtime errors.
Use the hasFloat16 export to check for native support at runtime.

import * as np from 'numpy-ts';
import { hasFloat16 } from 'numpy-ts';

const a = np.array([1.5, 2.0, 3.25], { dtype: 'float16' });
a.dtype;       // 'float16'
a.itemsize;    // 2

if (hasFloat16) {
  console.log('Native Float16Array — exact NumPy precision');
} else {
  console.log('Float32Array fallback — float32 precision');
}

If you need exact NumPy float16 parity, target Node 23+ or use hasFloat16 to guard precision-sensitive code paths.

Type promotion hierarchy

When you combine arrays with different dtypes in an operation, numpy-ts promotes to a common type that can represent both without data loss. The promotion follows NumPy’s rules:

complex128 > complex64 > float64 > float32 > float16 > int64 > int32 > int16 > int8
                                                        uint64 > uint32 > uint16 > uint8 > bool

Some key promotion rules:

Operation	Result dtype	Reason
`float64 + int32`	`float64`	float always wins
`float32 + int8`	`float32`	float32 can hold int8 values
`float16 + float32`	`float32`	wider float wins
`float16 + int8`	`float16`	float16 can hold int8 values
`float16 + int16`	`float32`	float16 lacks precision for all int16 values
`float32 + int32`	`float64`	float32 lacks precision for all int32 values
`int32 + uint32`	`int64`	need signed type larger than both
`int64 + uint64`	`float64`	no integer type can hold both ranges
`bool + int32`	`int32`	bool promotes to the other type
`complex128 + float64`	`complex128`	complex always wins
`complex64 + float64`	`complex128`	float64 requires complex128 precision

const a = np.array([1, 2], { dtype: 'float32' });
const b = np.array([3, 4], { dtype: 'int32' });

const c = np.add(a, b);
c.dtype;  // 'float64' -- promoted for precision safety

Integer overflow and wrapping

Integer dtypes wrap on overflow, just like NumPy and C integer types. There is no error or automatic promotion:

const a = np.array([127], { dtype: 'int8' });
const b = np.add(a, np.array([1], { dtype: 'int8' }));
b.toArray();  // [-128]  -- wraps around

const c = np.array([255], { dtype: 'uint8' });
const d = np.add(c, np.array([1], { dtype: 'uint8' }));
d.toArray();  // [0]  -- wraps around

If you need overflow protection, use a wider dtype (int16 instead of int8) or promote to float64 first.

Converting dtypes with `astype()`

Use astype() to create a new array with a different dtype:

const a = np.array([1.7, 2.3, 3.9], { dtype: 'float64' });

// float -> int truncates (no rounding)
const b = a.astype('int32');
b.toArray();  // [1, 2, 3]

// int -> float
const c = np.array([1, 2, 3], { dtype: 'int32' });
c.astype('float32').dtype;  // 'float32'

// Anything -> bool (0 = false, nonzero = true)
const d = np.array([0, 1, -5, 0.0, 3.14]);
d.astype('bool').toArray();  // [0, 1, 1, 0, 1]

By default, astype() always returns a copy. Pass copy: false to return the same array when the dtype already matches:

const a = np.array([1, 2, 3], { dtype: 'float64' });

const b = a.astype('float64', false);
b === a;  // true  -- same object, no copy

const c = a.astype('float64');
c === a;  // false -- new copy

Special cases

Comparisons always return `bool`

Regardless of input dtypes, comparison operations always produce bool arrays:

const a = np.array([1.0, 2.0, 3.0]);      // float64
const b = np.array([2.0, 2.0, 2.0]);      // float64

const result = np.greater(a, b);
result.dtype;     // 'bool'
result.toArray(); // [0, 0, 1]  (0 = false, 1 = true)

`mean()` promotes integers to `float64`

Just like NumPy, mean() converts integer arrays to float64 to avoid truncation:

const a = np.array([1, 2, 3, 4], { dtype: 'int32' });
const m = np.mean(a);  // 2.5 (float64, not truncated to 2)

Boolean arrays

Boolean arrays store 0 (false) and 1 (true) as uint8 values. They participate in arithmetic as integers:

const mask = np.array([true, false, true, false], { dtype: 'bool' });
mask.toArray();  // [1, 0, 1, 0]

// Sum counts the number of true values
np.sum(mask);  // 2

numpy-ts

Getting Started

Guides

Resources

Data Types (dtypes)

Overview

Supported dtypes

Default dtype

Creating arrays with specific dtypes

BigInt for int64 and uint64

Complex numbers

Float16 support

Type promotion hierarchy

Integer overflow and wrapping

Converting dtypes with `astype()`

Special cases

Comparisons always return `bool`

`mean()` promotes integers to `float64`

Boolean arrays

Next steps

Array Basics

Broadcasting

numpy-ts

Getting Started

Guides

Resources

​Overview

​Supported dtypes

​Default dtype

​Creating arrays with specific dtypes

​BigInt for int64 and uint64

​Complex numbers

​Float16 support

​Type promotion hierarchy

​Integer overflow and wrapping

​Converting dtypes with astype()

​Special cases

​Comparisons always return bool

​mean() promotes integers to float64

​Boolean arrays

​Next steps

Array Basics

Broadcasting

Overview

Supported dtypes

Default dtype

Creating arrays with specific dtypes

BigInt for int64 and uint64

Complex numbers

Float16 support

Type promotion hierarchy

Integer overflow and wrapping

Converting dtypes with `astype()`

Special cases

Comparisons always return `bool`

`mean()` promotes integers to `float64`

Boolean arrays

Next steps