Copy and deep copy of array

[zcbenz]

My understanding of below code is, it uses copy op to create a new array with a new ArrayDesc, with the tracing turned on.

mlx/mlx/transforms.cpp

Lines 186 to 193 in d0dbfe0

	// Make tracers from given primals
	std::vector<array> primals_;
	for (auto& p : primals) {
	auto s = p.has_primitive() ? p.primitive().stream()
	: default_stream(default_device());
	primals_.push_back(copy(p, s)); // Does not do a deep copy
	primals_.back().set_tracer(true);
	}

What does the "Does not do a deep copy" comment mean?

Is there a concept of deep copy in MLX? The __deepcopy__ operator in python is simply implemented as array(self).

[awni]

The comment there just indicates that copy(p, s) is not going to make a new data buffer to back it's output, it will just be a view of the same data as p.

There is no real "deep copy" in MLX in the sense of an operation which forces a new data buffer to be allocated and copied into. We have no plans to expose one. Data buffers are managed by primitives and the runtime which is at a lower level and having complete control over that is useful.