Add specification for the __binsparse__ protocol.

Author: hameerabbasi

spec/draft/design_topics/data_interchange.rst

@@ -85,17 +85,40 @@ page gives a high-level specification for data exchange in Python using DLPack.
    below. They are not required to return an array object from ``from_dlpack``
    which conforms to this standard.
 
+binsparse: Extending to sparse arrays
+-------------------------------------
+
+Sparse arrays can be represented in-memory by a collection of 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional
+dense arrays, alongside some metadata on how to interpret these arrays. This allows us to re-use
+the DLPack protocol for the storage of the constituent arrays. The work of specifying the
+accompanying metadata has already been performed by the
+`binsparse specification <https://graphblas.org/binsparse-specification/>`_.
+
+While initially intended to target file formats, binsparse has relatively few requirements from
+back-ends:
+
+1. The ability to represent and parse JSON.
+2. To be able to represent/store a key-value store of 1-dimensional (and optionally 2-dimensional)
+   arrays.
+
+It is the only such specification for sparse representations to have these minimal requirements.
+We can satisfy both: The former with the ``json`` built-in Python module or a Python ``dict`` and
+the latter with the DLPack protocol.
+
+.. note::
+   See the `RFC to adopt binsparse <https://github.com/data-apis/array-api/issues/840>`_
+   for discussion that preceded the adoption of the binsparse protocol.
+
+   See :ref:`extensions/sparse_interchange` for the Python specification of this protocol.
+
+
 Non-supported use cases
 -----------------------
 
 Use of DLPack requires that the data can be represented by a strided, in-memory
 layout on a single device. This covers usage by a large range of, but not all,
 known and possible array libraries. Use cases that are not supported by DLPack
-include:
-
-- Distributed arrays, i.e., the data residing on multiple nodes or devices,
-- Sparse arrays, i.e., sparse representations where a data value (typically
-  zero) is implicit.
+include distributed arrays, i.e., the data residing on multiple nodes or devices.
 
 There may be other reasons why it is not possible or desirable for an
 implementation to materialize the array as strided data in memory. In such

spec/draft/extensions/index.rst

@@ -32,3 +32,4 @@ the array API standard. See :ref:`api-specification`.
 
    fourier_transform_functions
    linear_algebra_functions
+   sparse_interchange

spec/draft/extensions/sparse_interchange.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+Sparse interchange
+==================
+
+    Array API specification for sparse interchange functions.
+
+Extension name and usage
+------------------------
+
+If implemented, this extension must be retrievable via::
+
+    >>> if hasattr(x, '__dlpack__'):
+    >>>     # Use the extension
+
+Objects in API
+--------------
+
+A conforming implementation of this extension must provide and support the following
+functions/methods.
+
+.. currentmodule:: array_api
+
+..
+  NOTE: please keep the functions and their inverse together
+
+.. autosummary::
+   :toctree: generated
+   :template: method.rst
+
+   from_binsparse
+
+.. autosummary::
+   :toctree: generated
+   :template: property.rst
+
+   array.__binsparse__
+   array.__binsparse_descriptor__

src/array_api_stubs/_2021_12/creation_functions.py

@@ -197,6 +197,29 @@ def from_dlpack(x: object, /) -> array:
     """
 
 
+def from_binsparse(arrays: dict[str, array], descriptor: dict, /) -> array:
+    """
+    Returns a new array containing the data from another (array) object with a ``__binsparse__`` method.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    arrays: dict[str, array]
+        input constituent arrays.
+    descriptor: dict
+        The parsed binsparse descriptor of the array.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    out: array
+        an array containing the data in `arrays` with a format specified by `descriptor`.
+
+        .. admonition:: Note
+           :class: note
+
+           The returned array may be either a copy or a view. See :ref:`data-interchange` for details.
+    """
+
+
 def full(
     shape: Union[int, Tuple[int, ...]],
     fill_value: Union[int, float],

src/array_api_stubs/_draft/array_object.py

@@ -1246,5 +1246,39 @@ def to_device(
            Clarified behavior when a provided ``device`` object corresponds to the device on which an array instance resides.
         """
 
+    def __binsparse_descriptor__(self) -> dict:
+        """
+        Returns a `dict` equivalent to a parsed `binsparse JSON descriptor <https://graphblas.org/binsparse-specification/>`_.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        self: array
+            array instance.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        out: dict
+            A ``dict`` equivalent to a parsed JSON binsparse descriptor of an array. See :ref:`extensions/sparse_interchange` for details.
+
+        .. versionadded:: 2025.12
+        """
+
+    def __binsparse__(self) -> dict[str, array]:
+        """
+        Returns a key-value store of the constituent arrays of a sparse array, as specified by the `binsparse specification <https://graphblas.org/binsparse-specification/>`_.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        self: array
+            array instance.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        out: dict[str, array]
+            A ``dict`` equivalent to a parsed JSON binsparse descriptor of an array. See :ref:`extensions/sparse_interchange` for details.
+
+        .. versionadded:: 2025.12
+        """
+
 
 array = _array