# What data type is pattern in 'A Relay of Phases'

**URL:** <https://discuss.pennylane.ai/t/what-data-type-is-pattern-in-a-relay-of-phases/9590>\
**Category:** QHack 2026\
**Created:** [October 19, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/t/what-data-type-is-pattern-in-a-relay-of-phases/9590 "2026-10-19T19:01:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ccadena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb9ed0/32.png) [@ccadena](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/u/ccadena)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/t/what-data-type-is-pattern-in-a-relay-of-phases/9590/1 "2026-10-19T19:01:14Z")

</div>

In the introduction, it lists it as an array, but in the function definition is has it as a float. What can we expect the data type to be?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/u/gabriela)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/t/what-data-type-is-pattern-in-a-relay-of-phases/9590/2 "2026-10-19T19:20:57Z")

</div>

Hi @ccadena!  
You are correct, there is a discrepancy between the challenge description and the functions’ docstring. The data type for `pattern` is an array, as indicated by the public test cases in the description.  
Thanks for letting us know, and good luck with the challenge!