title: Using scala breeze with complex datatypes
body: <p>What is the best way to build a dense matrix within Breeze that is made up of object with different data types?</p>
  
  <p>For example how would</p>
  
  <pre><code>case class X ( a1:Int, b2:Long, c3:Double, d4:Double)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>get mapped into a dense matrix?</p>
  
  <p>Is there an equivalent of Numpy's <a href="http://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy-1.10.0/reference/generated/numpy.dtype.html" rel="nofollow">dtypes</a> within Breeze? </p>
  
  <p>Ultimately I have many millions of records I'm trying to process and am looking to perform arithmetic functions on the <strong>b2, c3 and d4</strong> columns based on slices on the <strong>a1</strong> column in the <strong>X</strong> class.</p>