diff --git a/NDTensors/src/lib/SparseArraysBase/README.md b/NDTensors/src/lib/SparseArraysBase/README.md index 75712505b7..629cc07e54 100644 --- a/NDTensors/src/lib/SparseArraysBase/README.md +++ b/NDTensors/src/lib/SparseArraysBase/README.md @@ -1,26 +1,83 @@ # SparseArraysBase -Defines a generic interface for sparse arrays in Julia. +SparseArraysBase is a package that aims to expand on the sparse array functionality that is currently in Julia Base. +While SparseArrays.jl is centered mostly around `SparseMatrixCSC` and the SuiteSparse library, here we wish to broaden the scope a bit, and consider generic sparse arrays. +Abstractly, the mental model can be considered as a storage object that holds the stored values, and a bijection between the array indices and the indices of the storage. +For now, we focus on providing efficient implementations of Dictionary of Key (DOK) type sparse storage formats, but may expand upon this in the future. +As a result, for typical linear algebra routines, we still expect `SparseMatrixCSC` to be the object of choice. + +The design consists of roughly three components: +- `AbstractSparseArray` interface functions +- Overloaded Julia base methods +- `SparseArrayDOK` struct that implements this + +## AbstractSparseArray + +The first part consists of typical functions that are useful in the context of sparse arrays. +The minimal interface, which enables the usage of the rest of this package, consists of the following functions: + +| Signature | Description | Default | +|-----------|-------------|---------| +| `sparse_storage(a::AbstractArray)` | Returns the storage object of the sparse array | `a` | +| `storage_index_to_index(a::AbstractArray, I)` | Converts a storage index to an array index | `I` | +| `index_to_storage_index(a::AbstractArray, I)` | Converts an array index to a storage index | `I` | + +Using these primitives, several convenience functions are defined to facilitate the writing of sparse array algorithms. + +| Signature | Description | Default | +|-----------|-------------|---------| +| `storage_indices(a)` | Returns the indices of the storage | `eachindex(sparse_storage(a))` | +| `stored_indices(a)` | Returns the indices of the stored values | `Iterators.map(Base.Fix1(storage_index_to_index, a), storage_indices(a))` | +| `stored_length(a)` | Returns the number of stored values | `length(storage_indices(a))` | + + + +Interesting to note here is that the design is such that we can define sparse arrays without having to subtype `AbstractSparseArray`. +To achieve this, each function `f` is defined in terms of `sparse_f`, rather than directly overloading `f`. + + +## Overloaded Julia base methods + +The second part consists of overloading Julia base methods to work with sparse arrays. +In particular, specialised implementations exist for the following functions: + +- `sparse_similar` +- `sparse_reduce` +- `sparse_map` +- `sparse_map!` +- `sparse_all` +- `sparse_any` +- `sparse_isequal` +- `sparse_fill!` +- `sparse_zero`, `sparse_zero!`, `sparse_iszero` +- `sparse_one`, `sparse_one!`, `sparse_isone` +- `sparse_reshape`, `sparse_reshape!` +- `sparse_cat`, `sparse_cat!` +- `sparse_copy!`, `sparse_copyto!` +- `sparse_permutedims`, `sparse_permutedims!` +- `sparse_mul!`, `sparse_dot` + +## SparseArrayDOK + +Finally, the `SparseArrayDOK` struct is provided as a concrete implementation of the `AbstractSparseArray` interface. +It is a dictionary of keys (DOK) type sparse array, which stores the values in a `Dictionaries.jl` dictionary, and maps the indices to the keys of the dictionary. +This model is particularly useful for sparse arrays with a small number of non-zero elements, or for arrays that are constructed incrementally, as it boasts fast random accesses and insertions. +The drawback is that sequential iteration is slower than for other sparse array types, leading to slower linear algebra operations. +For the purposes of `SparseArraysBase`, this struct will serve as the canonical example of a sparse array, and will be returned by default when new sparse arrays are created. + +One particular feature of `SparseArrayDOK` is that it can be used in cases where the non-stored entries have to be constructed in a non-trivial way. +Typically, sparse arrays use `zero(eltype(a))` to construct the non-stored entries, but this is not always sufficient. +A concrete example is found in `BlockSparseArrays.jl`, where initialization of the non-stored entries requires the construction of a block of zeros of appropriate size. + + ## TODO Still need to implement `Base` functions: