Optimization: Replace arr.flat[0] with arr.item() after asserting singleton array

[SaFE-APIOpt]

mpnum/mpnum/mparray.py

Line 1277 in 32c11b6

assert arr.size == 1

Optimization: Replace arr.flat[0] with arr.item() after asserting singleton array
Hi, I’d like to suggest a minor improvement in the following code snippet:

assert arr.size == 1
return arr.flat[0]

This can be simplified and optimized as:

assert arr.size == 1
return arr.item()

When the array is guaranteed to contain exactly one element, the most efficient and semantically appropriate way to extract that scalar is using arr.item(). This function is specifically designed to retrieve the sole element of a 1-element array and is implemented as a fast C-level call without the need for creating intermediate iterator objects. On the other hand, arr.flat[0] constructs a flatiter object and performs Python-level indexing, which adds unnecessary overhead. Moreover, item() conveys the intent more clearly in this context: “return the only item.” It improves both performance and readability.