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Numpy passing input array as `out` argument to ufunc

Is it generally safe to provide the input array as the optional out argument to a ufunc in numpy, provided the type is correct? For example, I have verified that the following works:

>>> import numpy as np
>>> arr = np.array([1.2, 3.4, 4.5])
>>> np.floor(arr, arr)
array([ 1.,  3.,  4.])

The array type must be either compatible or identical with the output (which is a float for numpy.floor()), or this happens:

>>> arr2 = np.array([1, 3, 4], dtype = np.uint8)
>>> np.floor(arr2, arr2)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: ufunc 'floor' output (typecode 'e') could not be coerced to provided output parameter (typecode 'B') according to the casting rule ''same_kind''

So given that an array of proper type, is it generally safe to apply ufuncs in-place? Or is floor() an exceptional case? The documentation does not make it clear, and neither do the following two threads that have tangential bearing on the question:

  1. Numpy modify array in place?
  2. Numpy Ceil and Floor "out" Argument

EDIT:

As a first order guess, I would assume it is often, but not always safe, based on the tutorial at http://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/user/c-info.ufunc-tutorial.html. There does not appear to be any restriction on using the output array as a temporary holder for intermediate results during the computation. While something like floor() and ciel() may not require temporary storage, more complex functions might. That being said, the entire existing library may be written with that in mind.

Solution

  • This is an old question, but there is an updated answer:

    Yes, it is safe. In the Numpy documentation, we see that as of v1.13:

    Operations where ufunc input and output operands have memory overlap are defined to be the same as for equivalent operations where there is no memory overlap. Operations affected make temporary copies as needed to eliminate data dependency. As detecting these cases is computationally expensive, a heuristic is used, which may in rare cases result in needless temporary copies. For operations where the data dependency is simple enough for the heuristic to analyze, temporary copies will not be made even if the arrays overlap, if it can be deduced copies are not necessary. As an example, np.add(a, b, out=a) will not involve copies.