numpy.file open

import numpy as np

iris_labels = ['Iris-setosa', 'Iris-versicolor', 'Iris-virginica']

iris = np.loadtxt('iris.csv', skiprows=1, delimiter=',',
                  converters={4: lambda s: iris_labels.index(s.decode())})

# iris = np.loadtxt('iris.csv', skiprows=1, delimiter=',',
#                   converters={4: lambda s: labels.index(s)}, encoding='utf-8') # latin1, ascii, utf-8, cp949