---
title: Using vDSP for vector-based arithmetic
framework: accelerate
role: article
role_heading: Article
path: accelerate/using-vdsp-for-vector-based-arithmetic
---

# Using vDSP for vector-based arithmetic

Increase the performance of common mathematical tasks with vDSP vector-vector and vector-scalar operations.

## Overview

Overview vDSP provides a suite of general-purpose, high-performance arithmetic functions that are alternatives to for loops and map when applying operations on collections of floating-point values. For example, the code below multiplies the element-wise sum of two arrays by a scalar value: let a: [Float] = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] let b: [Float] = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100] let c: Float = 2

let d = zip(a, b).map {     ($0.0 + $0.1) * c }

// d = [22.0, 44.0, 66.0, 88.0, 110.0, 132.0, 154.0, 176.0, 198.0, 220.0] The vDSP version of the same operation runs significantly faster. let d = [Float](unsafeUninitializedCapacity: a.count) {     buffer, initializedCount in          vDSP.multiply(addition: (a, b),                   c,                   result: &buffer)          initializedCount = a.count }

// d = [22.0, 44.0, 66.0, 88.0, 110.0, 132.0, 154.0, 176.0, 198.0, 220.0] Many vDSP functions have a variant that returns the result. let a: [Float] = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] let b: [Float] = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100] let c: Float = 2

let d = vDSP.multiply(addition: (a, b),                       c) Available arithmetic functions The following table summarizes the basic arithmetic functions available in vDSP. All functions are available in single- and double-precision variants. In the Operation column, a subscript (for example, a[i]) indicates a vector, and no subscript (for example, a) indicates a scalar value.  |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## See Also

### Signal Processing Essentials

- [Controlling vDSP operations with stride](accelerate/controlling-vdsp-operations-with-stride.md)
- [Using linear interpolation to construct new data points](accelerate/using-linear-interpolation-to-construct-new-data-points.md)
- [Resampling a signal with decimation](accelerate/resampling-a-signal-with-decimation.md)
- [vDSP](accelerate/vdsp-library.md)