Zero-Copy Zen: Boost Performance with Memory View

Zero-copy is a technique in computer programming that allows data to be transferred between different parts of a program without being copied to intermediate buffers. In Python, this technique can be achieved using the memory view object, which provides a view into the memory of other objects. Learn how to efficiently manipulate large datasets and optimise your code with the help of this powerful tool. Whether you're working with sockets, objects or memory profiling, memory view is your key to faster and more efficient Python programming.

The deck was created for presentation at PyCon India '23, and was designed by Reon Saji.
[https://www.linkedin.com/in/reonsaji]

Transcript

1. Boost Performance with Memory View Zero-Copy Zen:
2. Kesia Mary Joies Product Engineer Strollby, UST Speaker
3. Let’s begin…
5. Zero-Copy ゼロコピー
6. A method to copy data from the disk/network to the memory without passing through the CPU
7. Traditional Mechanism
8. Zero-copy Mechanism
9. Let’s look into an example
10. Receiving server
11. Traditional Copy Client
12. A test run using a test file with 2GB size
13. Zero-Copy Client
15. And, what is buffer protocol ?
16. Buffer Protocol It is a protocol that provides a way to access the internal data of an object.
17. Buffer Protocol Improves execution speed
18. Buffer Protocol Improves execution speed Use less memory
19. Improves execution speed Use less memory Works on large data Buffer Protocol
20. Whenever we perform some action on an object, Python needs to create a copy of the object.
22. Buffer Protocol But the problem is, even if we cannot access this protocol with the standard code base, this is accessible to us at the C-API level.
23. Buffer Protocol But the problem is, even if we cannot access this protocol with the standard code base, this is accessible to us at the C-API level. So, in Python, if we want to expose the same protocol in Python, we need to use memory view.
24. Before introducing memory view…
25. Python’s built-in binary data types
26. Python’s built-in binary data types Bytes
27. Python’s built-in binary data types Bytes Byte Array
28. Bytes Byte Array Memory View Python’s built-in binary data types
29. Bytes Immutable data type
30. Bytes Immutable data type Return a byte object
31. Immutable data type Return a byte object Must be iterable of integers between 0 <= x < 256 Bytes
32. Bytes Syntax: bytes([source[, encoding[, errors]]])
39. Bytearray
40. Bytearray Similar to bytes
41. Bytearray Similar to bytes Supports mutability
44. Memory View
45. Memory View Zero-Copy View
46. Memory View Zero-Copy View Slicing and Indexing
47. Memory View Zero-Copy View Slicing and Indexing Efficient Data Manipulation
48. Memory View Syntax: memoryview(object)
52. Converts to byte array using str.encode()
53. Converts to byte array using str.encode()
58. PEP 688 – Making the buffer protocol accessible in Python • A better way to interact with the buffer protocol directly. • Now supports additional types with the buffer protocol. • Simplified Workflow • Performance Boost
59. Comparison
60. Without Memory View
61. With Memory View Without Memory View
62. Without Memory View With Memory View Without Memory View
64. Zero-copy zen_boost performance with memory view.talk PyCon to Memory 3 minutes
65. Applications
66. Example - Numeric and Scientific Computing:
67. Example - Video Streaming
68. Example - Video Streaming
69. Example - Video Streaming
70. Reduced Memory Footprint Benefits
71. Reduced Memory Footprint Better Performance Benefits
72. Reduced Memory Footprint Better Performance Improved Scalability Benefits
73. References 1. Idea of zero copy [with example] 2. Effective Python › Item 74: Consider memoryview and bytearray for Zero-Copy Interactions with bytes 3. Python memoryview() 4. Python Memoryview Example for Beginners 5. memoryview in Python 6. Python memoryview() Function (Buffer Protocol And Memory View) 7. PEP 688 – Making the buffer protocol accessible in Python
74. @kesiajoies Thank you