[Numpy-discussion] numpy ndarray questions

[Sturla Molden]

> On Tue, 2009-01-27 at 14:16 +0100, Sturla Molden wrote:

>> def aligned_array(N, dtype):
>>      d = dtype()
>>      tmp = numpy.array(N * d.nbytes + 16, dtype=numpy.uint8)
>>      address = tmp.__array_interface__['data'][0]
>>      offset = (16 - address % 16) % 16
>>      return tmp[offset:offset+N].view(dtype=dtype)

> Ah, I didn't think about doing it in python, cool thanks.


Doing it from Python means you don't have to worry about manually
deallocating the array afterwards.

It seems the issue of 16-byte alignment has to do with efficient data
alignment for SIMD instructions (SSE, MMX, etc). So this is not just an
FFTW issue.

I would just put a check for 16-byte alignment in the wrapper, and raise
an exception (e.g. MemoryError) if the array is not aligned properly.
Raising an exception will inform the user of the problem. I would not
attempt to make a local copy if the array is errorneously aligned. That is
my personal preference.

Sturla Molden