depr(python, rust!): Rename .list.lengths and .str.lengths

crates/polars-arrow/src/kernels/string.rs

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use arrow::datatypes::DataType;
 use crate::prelude::*;
 use crate::trusted_len::TrustedLenPush;
 
-pub fn string_lengths(array: &Utf8Array<i64>) -> ArrayRef {
+pub fn string_len_bytes(array: &Utf8Array<i64>) -> ArrayRef {
     let values = array
         .offsets()
         .as_slice()
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ pub fn string_lengths(array: &Utf8Array<i64>) -> ArrayRef {
     Box::new(array)
 }
 
-pub fn string_nchars(array: &Utf8Array<i64>) -> ArrayRef {
+pub fn string_len_chars(array: &Utf8Array<i64>) -> ArrayRef {
     let values = array.values_iter().map(|x| x.chars().count() as u32);
     let values: Buffer<_> = Vec::from_trusted_len_iter(values).into();
     let array = UInt32Array::new(DataType::UInt32, values, array.validity().cloned());

crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/namespace.rs

@@ -145,15 +145,15 @@ pub trait Utf8NameSpaceImpl: AsUtf8 {
     }
 
     /// Get the length of the string values as number of chars.
-    fn str_n_chars(&self) -> UInt32Chunked {
+    fn str_len_chars(&self) -> UInt32Chunked {
         let ca = self.as_utf8();
-        ca.apply_kernel_cast(&string_nchars)
+        ca.apply_kernel_cast(&string_len_chars)
     }
 
     /// Get the length of the string values as number of bytes.
-    fn str_lengths(&self) -> UInt32Chunked {
+    fn str_len_bytes(&self) -> UInt32Chunked {
         let ca = self.as_utf8();
-        ca.apply_kernel_cast(&string_lengths)
+        ca.apply_kernel_cast(&string_len_bytes)
     }
 
     /// Return a copy of the string left filled with ASCII '0' digits to make a string of length width.

crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/function_expr/mod.rs

@@ -762,8 +762,8 @@ impl From<StringFunction> for SpecialEq<Arc<dyn SeriesUdf>> {
             ExtractGroups { pat, dtype } => {
                 map!(strings::extract_groups, &pat, &dtype)
             },
-            NChars => map!(strings::n_chars),
-            Length => map!(strings::lengths),
+            LenBytes => map!(strings::len_bytes),
+            LenChars => map!(strings::len_chars),
             #[cfg(feature = "string_justify")]
             Zfill(alignment) => {
                 map!(strings::zfill, alignment)

crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/function_expr/strings.rs

@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ pub enum StringFunction {
     },
     #[cfg(feature = "string_from_radix")]
     FromRadix(u32, bool),
-    NChars,
-    Length,
+    LenBytes,
+    LenChars,
     #[cfg(feature = "string_justify")]
     LJust {
         width: usize,
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ impl StringFunction {
             FromRadix { .. } => mapper.with_dtype(DataType::Int32),
             #[cfg(feature = "extract_jsonpath")]
             JsonExtract { dtype, .. } => mapper.with_opt_dtype(dtype.clone()),
-            Length => mapper.with_dtype(DataType::UInt32),
-            NChars => mapper.with_dtype(DataType::UInt32),
+            LenBytes => mapper.with_dtype(DataType::UInt32),
+            LenChars => mapper.with_dtype(DataType::UInt32),
             #[cfg(feature = "regex")]
             Replace { .. } => mapper.with_same_dtype(),
             #[cfg(feature = "temporal")]
@@ -173,9 +173,9 @@ impl Display for StringFunction {
             StringFunction::JsonExtract { .. } => "json_extract",
             #[cfg(feature = "string_justify")]
             StringFunction::LJust { .. } => "ljust",
-            StringFunction::Length => "lengths",
+            StringFunction::LenBytes => "len_bytes",
             StringFunction::Lowercase => "lowercase",
-            StringFunction::NChars => "n_chars",
+            StringFunction::LenChars => "len_chars",
             #[cfg(feature = "string_justify")]
             StringFunction::RJust { .. } => "rjust",
             #[cfg(feature = "regex")]
@@ -234,14 +234,14 @@ pub(super) fn titlecase(s: &Series) -> PolarsResult<Series> {
     Ok(ca.to_titlecase().into_series())
 }
 
-pub(super) fn n_chars(s: &Series) -> PolarsResult<Series> {
+pub(super) fn len_chars(s: &Series) -> PolarsResult<Series> {
     let ca = s.utf8()?;
-    Ok(ca.str_n_chars().into_series())
+    Ok(ca.str_len_chars().into_series())
 }
 
-pub(super) fn lengths(s: &Series) -> PolarsResult<Series> {
+pub(super) fn len_bytes(s: &Series) -> PolarsResult<Series> {
     let ca = s.utf8()?;
-    Ok(ca.str_lengths().into_series())
+    Ok(ca.str_len_bytes().into_series())
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "regex")]

crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/list.rs

@@ -34,8 +34,10 @@ impl ListNameSpace {
             .map_private(FunctionExpr::ListExpr(ListFunction::DropNulls))
     }
 
-    /// Get lengths of the arrays in the List type.
-    pub fn lengths(self) -> Expr {
+    /// Return the number of elements in each list.
+    ///
+    /// Null values are treated like regular elements in this context.
+    pub fn len(self) -> Expr {
         self.0
             .map_private(FunctionExpr::ListExpr(ListFunction::Length))
     }

crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/string.rs

@@ -369,16 +369,29 @@ impl StringNameSpace {
             )))
     }
 
-    /// Return the number of characters in the string (not bytes).
-    pub fn n_chars(self) -> Expr {
+    /// Return the length of each string as the number of bytes.
+    ///
+    /// When working with non-ASCII text, the length in bytes is not the same
+    /// as the length in characters. You may want to use
+    /// [`len_chars`] instead. Note that `len_bytes` is much more
+    /// performant (_O(1)_) than [`len_chars`] (_O(n)_).
+    ///
+    /// [`len_chars`]: StringNameSpace::len_chars
+    pub fn len_bytes(self) -> Expr {
         self.0
-            .map_private(FunctionExpr::StringExpr(StringFunction::NChars))
+            .map_private(FunctionExpr::StringExpr(StringFunction::LenBytes))
     }
 
-    /// Return the number of bytes in the string (not characters).
-    pub fn lengths(self) -> Expr {
+    /// Return the length of each string as the number of characters.
+    ///
+    /// When working with ASCII text, use [`len_bytes`] instead to achieve
+    /// equivalent output with much better performance:
+    /// [`len_bytes`] runs in _O(1)_, while `len_chars` runs in _O(n)_.
+    ///
+    /// [`len_bytes`]: StringNameSpace::len_bytes
+    pub fn len_chars(self) -> Expr {
         self.0
-            .map_private(FunctionExpr::StringExpr(StringFunction::Length))
+            .map_private(FunctionExpr::StringExpr(StringFunction::LenChars))
     }
 
     /// Slice the string values.

crates/polars-sql/src/functions.rs

@@ -631,7 +631,7 @@ impl SqlFunctionVisitor<'_> {
                     }
                 }))
             }),
-            Length => self.visit_unary(|e| e.str().n_chars()),
+            Length => self.visit_unary(|e| e.str().len_chars()),
             Lower => self.visit_unary(|e| e.str().to_lowercase()),
             LTrim => match function.args.len() {
                 1 => self.visit_unary(|e| e.str().strip_chars_start(lit(Null))),
@@ -641,7 +641,7 @@ impl SqlFunctionVisitor<'_> {
                     function.args.len()
                 ),
             },
-            OctetLength => self.visit_unary(|e| e.str().lengths()),
+            OctetLength => self.visit_unary(|e| e.str().len_bytes()),
             RegexpLike => match function.args.len() {
                 2 => self.visit_binary(|e, s| e.str().contains(s, true)),
                 3 => self.try_visit_ternary(|e, pat, flags| {
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ impl SqlFunctionVisitor<'_> {
             // ----
             ArrayContains => self.visit_binary::<Expr>(|e, s| e.list().contains(s)),
             ArrayGet => self.visit_binary(|e, i| e.list().get(i)),
-            ArrayLength => self.visit_unary(|e| e.list().lengths()),
+            ArrayLength => self.visit_unary(|e| e.list().len()),
             ArrayMax => self.visit_unary(|e| e.list().max()),
             ArrayMean => self.visit_unary(|e| e.list().mean()),
             ArrayMin => self.visit_unary(|e| e.list().min()),

docs/_build/API_REFERENCE_LINKS.yml

@@ -142,8 +142,8 @@ python:
   str.replace_all: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.str.replace_all.html
   str.to_datetime: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.str.to_datetime.html
   str.to_date: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.str.to_date.html
-  str.n_chars: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.str.n_chars.html
-  str.lengths: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.str.lengths.html
+  str.len_chars: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.str.len_chars.html
+  str.len_bytes: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.str.len_bytes.html
 
   struct.field: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.struct.field.html
   struct.rename_fields: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/py-polars/html/reference/expressions/api/polars.Expr.struct.rename_fields.html
@@ -354,12 +354,12 @@ rust:
     name: str.replace_all
     link: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/docs/rust/dev/polars_lazy/dsl/string/struct.StringNameSpace.html#method.to_datetime
     feature_flags: [dtype-datetime]
-  str.n_chars:
-    name: str.n_chars
-    link: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/docs/rust/dev/polars_lazy/dsl/string/struct.StringNameSpace.html#method.n_chars
-  str.lengths:
-    name: str.lengths
-    link: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/docs/rust/dev/polars_lazy/dsl/string/struct.StringNameSpace.html#method.lengths
+  str.len_chars:
+    name: str.len_chars
+    link: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/docs/rust/dev/polars_lazy/dsl/string/struct.StringNameSpace.html#method.len_chars
+  str.len_bytes:
+    name: str.len_bytes
+    link: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/docs/rust/dev/polars_lazy/dsl/string/struct.StringNameSpace.html#method.len_bytes
 
   struct.rename_fields: https://pola-rs.github.io/polars/docs/rust/dev/polars_lazy/dsl/struct.StructNameSpace.html#method.rename_fields
   struct.field:

docs/src/python/user-guide/expressions/lists.py

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 out = weather.with_columns(pl.col("temperatures").str.split(" ")).with_columns(
     pl.col("temperatures").list.head(3).alias("top3"),
     pl.col("temperatures").list.slice(-3, 3).alias("bottom_3"),
-    pl.col("temperatures").list.lengths().alias("obs"),
+    pl.col("temperatures").list.len().alias("obs"),
 )
 print(out)
 # --8<-- [end:list_ops]

docs/src/python/user-guide/expressions/strings.py

@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 df = pl.DataFrame({"animal": ["Crab", "cat and dog", "rab$bit", None]})
 
 out = df.select(
-    pl.col("animal").str.lengths().alias("byte_count"),
-    pl.col("animal").str.n_chars().alias("letter_count"),
+    pl.col("animal").str.len_bytes().alias("byte_count"),
+    pl.col("animal").str.len_chars().alias("letter_count"),
 )
 print(out)
 # --8<-- [end:df]

docs/src/python/user-guide/expressions/user-defined-functions.py

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def add_counter(val: int) -> int:
     pl.struct(["keys", "values"])
     .map_elements(lambda x: len(x["keys"]) + x["values"])
     .alias("solution_apply"),
-    (pl.col("keys").str.lengths() + pl.col("values")).alias("solution_expr"),
+    (pl.col("keys").str.len_bytes() + pl.col("values")).alias("solution_expr"),
 )
 print(out)
 # --8<-- [end:combine]

docs/src/rust/user-guide/expressions/strings.rs

@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
         .clone()
         .lazy()
         .select([
-            col("animal").str().lengths().alias("byte_count"),
-            col("animal").str().n_chars().alias("letter_count"),
+            col("animal").str().len_bytes().alias("byte_count"),
+            col("animal").str().len_chars().alias("letter_count"),
         ])
         .collect()?;
 

docs/user-guide/expressions/strings.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ String processing functions are available in the `str` namespace.
 
 The `str` namespace can be accessed through the `.str` attribute of a column with `Utf8` data type. In the following example, we create a column named `animal` and compute the length of each element in the column in terms of the number of bytes and the number of characters. If you are working with ASCII text, then the results of these two computations will be the same, and using `lengths` is recommended since it is faster.
 
-{{code_block('user-guide/expressions/strings','df',['str.lengths','str.n_chars'])}}
+{{code_block('user-guide/expressions/strings','df',['str.len_bytes','str.len_chars'])}}
 
 ```python exec="on" result="text" session="user-guide/strings"
 --8<-- "python/user-guide/expressions/strings.py:setup"

py-polars/docs/source/reference/expressions/list.rst

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ The following methods are available under the `expr.list` attribute.
     Expr.list.intersection
     Expr.list.join
     Expr.list.last
+    Expr.list.len
     Expr.list.lengths
     Expr.list.max
     Expr.list.mean

py-polars/docs/source/reference/expressions/string.rst

@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ The following methods are available under the `expr.str` attribute.
     Expr.str.extract_groups
     Expr.str.json_extract
     Expr.str.json_path_match
+    Expr.str.len_bytes
+    Expr.str.len_chars
     Expr.str.lengths
     Expr.str.ljust
     Expr.str.lstrip

py-polars/docs/source/reference/series/list.rst

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ The following methods are available under the `Series.list` attribute.
     Series.list.join
     Series.list.intersection
     Series.list.last
+    Series.list.len
     Series.list.lengths
     Series.list.max
     Series.list.mean

py-polars/docs/source/reference/series/string.rst

@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ The following methods are available under the `Series.str` attribute.
     Series.str.extract_groups
     Series.str.json_extract
     Series.str.json_path_match
+    Series.str.len_bytes
+    Series.str.len_chars
     Series.str.lengths
     Series.str.ljust
     Series.str.lstrip

py-polars/polars/config.py

@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ def set_fmt_str_lengths(cls, n: int | None) -> type[Config]:
         ...         ]
         ...     }
         ... )
-        >>> df.with_columns(pl.col("txt").str.lengths().alias("len"))
+        >>> df.with_columns(pl.col("txt").str.len_bytes().alias("len"))
         shape: (2, 2)
         ┌───────────────────────────────────┬─────┐
         │ txt                               ┆ len │

py-polars/polars/expr/expr.py

@@ -1241,15 +1241,15 @@ def agg_groups(self) -> Self:
 
     def count(self) -> Self:
         """
-        Count the number of values in this expression.
+        Return the number of elements in the column.
 
         .. warning::
-            `null` is deemed a value in this context.
+            Null values are treated like regular elements in this context.
 
         Examples
         --------
         >>> df = pl.DataFrame({"a": [8, 9, 10], "b": [None, 4, 4]})
-        >>> df.select(pl.all().count())  # counts nulls
+        >>> df.select(pl.all().count())
         shape: (1, 2)
         ┌─────┬─────┐
         │ a   ┆ b   │
@@ -1264,19 +1264,16 @@ def count(self) -> Self:
 
     def len(self) -> Self:
         """
-        Count the number of values in this expression.
+        Return the number of elements in the column.
+
+        Null values are treated like regular elements in this context.
 
         Alias for :func:`count`.
 
         Examples
         --------
-        >>> df = pl.DataFrame(
-        ...     {
-        ...         "a": [8, 9, 10],
-        ...         "b": [None, 4, 4],
-        ...     }
-        ... )
-        >>> df.select(pl.all().len())  # counts nulls
+        >>> df = pl.DataFrame({"a": [8, 9, 10], "b": [None, 4, 4]})
+        >>> df.select(pl.all().len())
         shape: (1, 2)
         ┌─────┬─────┐
         │ a   ┆ b   │