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| 106 | +<meta itemprop="description" content="The 2024 revision of the array API standard has been finalized and is ready for adoption by conforming array libraries."><meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2025-02-27T08:00:00+00:00" /> |
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| 111 | + <h1 itemprop="headline"> 2024 release of the Array API Standard</h1> |
| 112 | + |
| 113 | +<blockquote itemprop="description">The 2024 revision of the array API standard has been finalized and is ready for adoption by conforming array libraries.</blockquote> |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +<time class="post-time"><span class="icon"> |
| 116 | + <i class="fa fa-clock-o" aria-hidden="true"></i> |
| 117 | +</span> |
| 118 | +<span>3 minute read</span> |
| 119 | +<span class="icon"> |
| 120 | + <i class="fa fa-pencil" aria-hidden="true"></i> |
| 121 | +</span> |
| 122 | + |
| 123 | + Published: <time datetime="2025-02-27T08:00:00+00:00">27 Feb, 2025</time> |
| 124 | + |
| 125 | +</time> |
| 126 | +</div> |
| 127 | +<div id="post-box"> |
| 128 | +<div id="post" itemprop="articleBody"> |
| 129 | + |
| 130 | + <p>Another year, another milestone! We’re excited to announce the release of the |
| 131 | +2024 revision of the Array API Standard, the latest iteration of our ongoing |
| 132 | +efforts to unify and standardize array programming across the PyData ecosystem. |
| 133 | +Since the standard’s inception, our goal has been to facilitate |
| 134 | +interoperability between array libraries and enable a more consistent and |
| 135 | +predictable developer experience. This year’s update continues that mission |
| 136 | +with key enhancements, new features, and clarifications that reflect the needs |
| 137 | +of the community.</p> |
| 138 | +<h2 id="key-enhancements-in-v202412">Key Enhancements in v2024.12</h2> |
| 139 | +<h3 id="scalar-argument-support">Scalar Argument Support</h3> |
| 140 | +<p>Previously, binary element-wise functions, such as <code>add</code>, <code>mul</code>, and others, |
| 141 | +required both input arguments to be arrays. This constraint has now been |
| 142 | +relaxed: scalars are now allowed as arguments, as long as at least one argument |
| 143 | +is an array. This change aligns with common practices in numerical computing |
| 144 | +workflows and makes it easier to write concise, readable code.</p> |
| 145 | +<h3 id="integer-array-indexing">Integer Array Indexing</h3> |
| 146 | +<p>Portable indexing semantics just got more powerful! The 2024 revision of the |
| 147 | +standard introduces support for indexing an array using tuples consisting |
| 148 | +solely of integers and integer arrays. This feature—a subset of NumPy’s |
| 149 | +vectorized fancy indexing—was a highly requested addition from downstream |
| 150 | +users. It enables efficient random sampling and more flexible multi-dimensional |
| 151 | +indexing, making it easier to work with large datasets and tensors.</p> |
| 152 | +<p>For more details, see <a href="https://data-apis.org/array-api/latest/API_specification/indexing.html#integer-array-indexing"><em>Integer Array Indexing</em></a> |
| 153 | +in the specification.</p> |
| 154 | +<h3 id="new-api-additions">New API Additions</h3> |
| 155 | +<p>Several new APIs have been introduced in this release to expand functionality |
| 156 | +and improve usability:</p> |
| 157 | +<ul> |
| 158 | +<li><code>count_nonzero</code>: counts the number of nonzero elements in an array.</li> |
| 159 | +<li><code>cumulative_prod</code>: computes the cumulative product along a specified axis.</li> |
| 160 | +<li><code>take_along_axis</code>: selects elements from an array using indices along a |
| 161 | +given axis.</li> |
| 162 | +<li><code>diff</code>: computes the discrete difference between consecutive elements.</li> |
| 163 | +<li><code>nextafter</code>: returns the next representable floating-point value in the |
| 164 | +direction of another floating-point value.</li> |
| 165 | +</ul> |
| 166 | +<p>These additions further close the gap between the Array API Standard and |
| 167 | +established numerical computing libraries.</p> |
| 168 | +<h3 id="breaking-changes">Breaking Changes</h3> |
| 169 | +<p>With progress comes necessary refinements. This year’s update includes two |
| 170 | +significant breaking changes:</p> |
| 171 | +<ul> |
| 172 | +<li><strong>Device-aware type promotion</strong>: The guidance for <code>result_type</code> and <code>can_cast</code> |
| 173 | +has been updated to require that type promotion rules account for device |
| 174 | +contexts when at least one operand is an array. This ensures that type |
| 175 | +promotion can be correctly handled across different hardware environments |
| 176 | +and accurately reflect device capabilities.</li> |
| 177 | +<li><strong>Refined handling of Python complex scalars</strong>: Previously, for binary |
| 178 | +operations involving an array and a Python scalar, the standard required |
| 179 | +that all scalar values be automatically converted to zero-dimensional |
| 180 | +arrays of the same type as the array operand. Now, if a Python <code>complex</code> |
| 181 | +scalar is used in an operation (e.g., <code>x * 1j</code>), the real-valued array |
| 182 | +operand should be promoted to a complex floating-point type of the same |
| 183 | +precision as the original array operand. This change better aligns with |
| 184 | +practical use cases involving complex numbers and helps improve developer |
| 185 | +ergonomics.</li> |
| 186 | +</ul> |
| 187 | +<h3 id="specification-clarifications">Specification Clarifications</h3> |
| 188 | +<p>Standards evolve not just through feature additions but also through |
| 189 | +refinements. Over the past year, we’ve worked closely with implementers and |
| 190 | +downstream users to resolve ambiguities in the specification. These |
| 191 | +clarifications ensure that adopting the standard is as seamless as possible and |
| 192 | +that behavior is well-defined across implementations.</p> |
| 193 | +<h2 id="looking-ahead">Looking Ahead</h2> |
| 194 | +<p>The 2024 revision of the Array API Standard represents another step forward in |
| 195 | +making array interoperability a reality across the Python ecosystem. Every |
| 196 | +iteration of the standard reflects deep collaboration across the PyData |
| 197 | +community, with contributions from library maintainers, researchers, and |
| 198 | +practitioners.</p> |
| 199 | +<p>We encourage all implementers to adopt the latest version and welcome feedback |
| 200 | +from the community. If you’re interested in contributing to future discussions, |
| 201 | +check out the <a href="https://github.com/data-apis/array-api">specification repository</a> |
| 202 | +and get involved!</p> |
| 203 | +<p>For full details on this release, see the <a href="https://data-apis.org/array-api/latest/changelog.html#v2024-12">changelog</a>.</p> |
| 204 | +<p>Here’s to another year of advancing the frontier of array and tensor computing |
| 205 | +in Python!</p> |
| 206 | + |
| 207 | + |
| 208 | +</div> |
| 209 | + |
| 210 | + <div class=""> |
| 211 | + <p> |
| 212 | + Published |
| 213 | + |
| 214 | + |
| 215 | + by <span itemprop="author">Athan Reines</span> |
| 216 | + |
| 217 | + |
| 218 | + <time datetime="2025-02-27T08:00:00+00:00"> |
| 219 | + 27 Feb, 2025 |
| 220 | + </time> |
| 221 | + |
| 222 | + in <span itemprop="articleSection"><a href="../../categories/consortium/">Consortium</a> and <a href="../../categories/standardization/">Standardization</a></span> |
| 223 | + |
| 224 | + |
| 225 | + and tagged <a href="../../tags/apis/">APIs</a>, <a href="../../tags/arrays/">arrays</a>, <a href="../../tags/community/">community</a>, <a href="../../tags/consortium/">consortium</a> and <a href="../../tags/standard/">standard</a> |
| 226 | + |
| 227 | + using <span itemprop="wordCount">609</span> words. |
| 228 | +</p> |
| 229 | + |
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| 232 | + |
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| 234 | + |
| 235 | + <aside> |
| 236 | + <heade><strong>Related Content</strong></header> |
| 237 | + <hr> |
| 238 | + <ul> |
| 239 | + |
| 240 | + |
| 241 | + <li><a href="../../blog/eoss6_award/">CZI EOSS 6 Award to Advance Array Interoperability within the PyData Ecosystem</a> – 6 minutes |
| 242 | + |
| 243 | + <li><a href="../../blog/array_api_v2023_release/">2023 release of the Array API Standard</a> – 10 minutes |
| 244 | + |
| 245 | + <li><a href="../../blog/array_api_v2022_release/">2022 release of the Array API Standard</a> – 8 minutes |
| 246 | + |
| 247 | + <li><a href="../../blog/array_api_standard_release/">First release of the Array API Standard</a> – 7 minutes |
| 248 | + |
| 249 | + <li><a href="../../blog/announcing_the_consortium/">Announcing the Consortium for Python Data API Standards</a> – 11 minutes |
| 250 | + |
| 251 | + <li><a href="../../blog/dataframe_standard_rfc/">Want to super-charge your library by writing dataframe-agnostic code? We'd love to hear from you</a> – 5 minutes |
| 252 | + |
| 253 | + <li><a href="../../blog/dataframe_protocol_rfc/">Towards dataframe interoperability</a> – 8 minutes |
| 254 | + |
| 255 | + </ul> |
| 256 | + </aside> |
| 257 | + |
| 258 | + |
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