Advanced Python Programming

Properties of a reduction operator

Not every mathematical or computer science operator is a reduction operator. In fact, even if an operator is capable of reducing an array of elements into one single value, there is no guarantee that it is a reduction operator. An operator is a reduction operator if it satisfies the following conditions:

• The operator can reduce an array of elements into one scalar value
• The end result (the scalar value) must be obtained through creating and computing partial tasks

The first condition is indicative of the phrase "reduction operators", as all elements of the input array have to be combined and reduced into one single value. However, the second condition is, essentially, in terms of concurrency and parallelism. ...