buffer protocol

The buffer protocol is a mechanism in Python that allows objects to share their internal memory buffers with other objects for direct access.

It underpins features like memoryview() and allows efficient data sharing between objects that store large amounts of data (e.g., images, audio, or numerical arrays). When an object implements the buffer protocol, other code can access its underlying memory buffer directly.

This protocol is especially important for performance-critical situations: it reduces overhead and preserves memory usage by avoiding unnecessary copies. Built-in types such as bytes, bytearray, and array.array expose a buffer interface. Libraries like NumPy also use it to exchange raw data efficiently across different parts of an application.

Related Resources

Tutorial

Python Protocols: Leveraging Structural Subtyping

In this tutorial, you'll learn about Python's protocols and how they can help you get the most out of using Python's type hint system and static type checkers.

intermediate python

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:

• Python Protocols: Leveraging Structural Subtyping (Quiz)