Quickstart ========== How do I build and read one array? ``#include ``, construct an ``aether::Array`` with however many samples you need, and read/write it through the ``View`` its ``.hostView()`` hands back — indexed ``(component, sample)``, the same shape you would use from NumPy with the axes swapped. The umbrella header -------------------- ``aether/aether.h`` pulls in the whole library: layout, views, expression templates, arrays, random numbers, residency — everything this site's pages cover. There is no separate install step or Python package to reach it from (see :doc:`interop` for how aether reaches Python at all) — it is a header-only C++23 library, so a consumer just includes it and links nothing extra beyond the compiler's own runtime. ``aether::Array`` ------------------ An ``aether::Array`` (``aether/array/Array.h``) is the OWNING convenience type: it allocates its own memory and follows the symmetry rule — ``Array`` always appends one more, dynamic dimension (the number of samples) on top of the ``Es...`` you name, so ``Array`` is an array of ``N`` 3-vectors, not a single one. ``.samples()`` reports how many there are; ``.size()`` reports the total scalar count (``samples() * 3`` for a 3-vector array). On a build with a CUDA backend, an ``Array`` actually owns TWO buffers — a host copy and a device copy — and ``.upload()``/``.download()`` move data between them (see :doc:`memory_ownership`). In a CPU-only build there is only one buffer, so those calls are harmless no-ops; the code above compiles and behaves identically either way, which is the whole point of the dual-mode design this library is built on. A runnable example ------------------- .. aether-example:: tests/test_Array.cpp:22-27 .. code-block:: cpp TEST_F(ArrayTest, SamplesAndSize) { aether::Array arr(10); EXPECT_EQ(arr.samples(), 10u); EXPECT_EQ(arr.size(), 30u); } .. aether-example-end:: Ten 3-component samples, so ``samples() == 10`` and ``size() == 30``. From here, :doc:`views_and_items` covers how to actually read and write the elements through a ``View``, and :doc:`memory_ownership` covers what ``Array`` is doing underneath.