5.1.1 Array views

The simplest example of a view is given by a slice of an array:

M = array([[1.,2.],[3.,4.]])
v = M[0,:] # first row of M

The preceding slice v  is a view of M. It shares the same data as M. Modifying v will modify M as well:

v[-1] = 0.
v # array([[1.,0.]])
M # array([[1.,0.],[3.,4.]]) # M is modified as well

It is possible to access the object that owns the data using the array attribute base:

v.base # array([[1.,0.],[3.,4.]])
v.base is M # True

If an array owns its data, the attribute base is None:

M.base # None