[petsc-users] petsc4py and high performance python

[Matthew Knepley]

On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 12:06 PM, Christian Staudt <
christian.staudt at ira.uka.de> wrote:

> Hello petsc4py users,
>
> I need some advice on petsc4py and how it can coexist with other
> approaches to get high performance with Python. Here's the situation:
>
> - I am working on a reimplementation of a graph laplacian solver that uses
> a multigrid approach. [1]
> - The original sequential implementation is in MATLAB, so Python was a
> natural choice because it makes it easy to translate concepts from MATLAB.
> The project is not small and translating everything to C++ would have been
> difficult and tedious. Numpy/Scipy also provide many equivalents for
> built-in MATLAB functions.
> - Unlike the original implementation, the new version should be
> parallelized. Here, PETSc (via petsc4py) should provide the parallel data
> structures and some operations.
> - There are probably functions for which pure Python does not deliver the
> necessary speed (and PETSc probably does not provide the operations
> needed). I am researching how to rewrite such performance-critical parts in
> C/C++, and embed them in the Python code - using methods like scipy.weave
> or ctypes. [2]
> - My question: Is it possible to share PETSc objects between the Python
> code and the embedded C/C++ code? For example, pass a PETSc.Mat via Python,
> operate on it with C/C++ and return the matrix to Python?
>

Yes, PETSc is just C code, so this works the same way.

   Matt


> In general: Do you think my approach makes sense? I am new to PETSc and
> have not done high performance Python before, so I hope to learn from your
> answers, hints and criticism.
>
> Chris
>
>
> [1] https://code.google.com/p/lamg/
> [2]
> http://www.scipy.org/PerformancePython#head-cafc55bbf8fd74071b2c2ebcfb6f24ed1989d540




-- 
What most experimenters take for granted before they begin their
experiments is infinitely more interesting than any results to which their
experiments lead.
-- Norbert Wiener
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