What is NumPy's buffer protocol and why is it important?

The buffer protocol allows NumPy to share raw memory with other systems without copying data.

The buffer protocol exposes a raw memory interface that enables zero-copy interoperability between NumPy, Python objects, and C extensions. Instead of converting data structures, NumPy shares pointers to memory along with metadata like shape and dtype. This is essential for performance in scientific computing and avoids expensive memory duplication.