I want to create a Cython function that will compile a rather large image pyramid, then pass that image pyramid to another Cython function for additional processing. At issue is the fact that the 2D arrays in the image pyramid do not have the same shape. The number of pyramid layers and the dimensions of each layer are known ahead of time (i.e., I don't necessarily need a container that can be dynamically allocated and would prefer to avoid such a container for speed reasons). In pure Python, I would probably load the various pyramid layers into a pre-initialized list and pass the list as an argument to the function that needs the pyramid. Since I'm now working in Cython where the goal is improved processing speed, I'm trying to avoid any container that might ultimately slow down processing. Memory views seem to be a good option for speed; however, it seems inefficient in terms of memory to force an image pyramid with a large base layer size into a memory view. I've read the answers to the following stack overflow question: Python list equivalent in C++?
As a guess, at least one of the suggestions at the cited link might address my question -- the problem is which suggestion? I'm relatively new to Cython and have an even more limited knowledge of C or C++, so hoping someone can point me in the right direction to help limit the number of possibilities I need to research.