From 49f75582251dba830098121f5c7ca9fc7d499213 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Palash Tyagi <23239946+Magnus167@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2025 05:00:42 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Enhance column access methods to clarify usage by name and
 physical index

---
 src/frame/base.rs | 16 ++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/frame/base.rs b/src/frame/base.rs
index daad7ee..4698dee 100644
--- a/src/frame/base.rs
+++ b/src/frame/base.rs
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ impl<T: Clone + PartialEq> Frame<T> {
         )
     }
 
-    /// Returns an immutable slice of the specified column's data.
+    /// Returns an immutable slice of the specified column's data by name.
     /// Panics if the column name is not found.
     pub fn column(&self, name: &str) -> &[T] {
         let idx = self
@@ -318,7 +318,13 @@ impl<T: Clone + PartialEq> Frame<T> {
         self.matrix.column(idx)
     }
 
-    /// Returns a mutable slice of the specified column's data.
+    /// Returns an immutable slice of the specified column's data by its physical index.
+    /// Panics if the index is out of bounds.
+    pub fn column_by_physical_idx(&self, idx: usize) -> &[T] {
+        self.matrix.column(idx)
+    }
+
+    /// Returns a mutable slice of the specified column's data by name.
     /// Panics if the column name is not found.
     pub fn column_mut(&mut self, name: &str) -> &mut [T] {
         let idx = self
@@ -327,6 +333,12 @@ impl<T: Clone + PartialEq> Frame<T> {
         self.matrix.column_mut(idx)
     }
 
+    /// Returns a mutable slice of the specified column's data by its physical index.
+    /// Panics if the index is out of bounds.
+    pub fn column_mut_by_physical_idx(&mut self, idx: usize) -> &mut [T] {
+        self.matrix.column_mut(idx)
+    }
+
     // Row access methods
 
     /// Returns an immutable view of the row for the given integer key.