Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!dedibox.gegeweb.org!gegeweb.eu!nntpfeed.proxad.net!proxad.net!feeder1-2.proxad.net!usenet-fr.net!nerim.net!novso.com!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed3.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!post.news.xs4all.nl!not-for-mail Return-Path: X-Original-To: python-list@python.org Delivered-To: python-list@mail.python.org X-Spam-Status: OK 0.034 X-Spam-Evidence: '*H*': 0.93; '*S*': 0.00; 'table.': 0.07; 'subject:into': 0.09; 'subject:string': 0.09; 'yeah,': 0.09; 'subject:How': 0.10; 'times,': 0.14; 'from:addr:rosuav': 0.16; 'from:name:chris angelico': 0.16; 'nesting': 0.16; 'reminded': 0.16; 'roy': 0.16; 'subject:already': 0.16; 'do,': 0.16; 'wrote:': 0.18; 'coding': 0.22; 'separate': 0.22; 'fixed.': 0.24; 'him.': 0.24; 'handling': 0.26; 'task': 0.26; 'header:In-Reply-To:1': 0.27; 'especially': 0.30; 'subject:list': 0.30; 'message- id:@mail.gmail.com': 0.30; "i'm": 0.30; 'code': 0.31; 'getting': 0.31; 'lists': 0.32; 'another': 0.32; 'table': 0.34; "can't": 0.35; 'but': 0.35; 'received:google.com': 0.35; 'doing': 0.36; 'list': 0.37; 'level': 0.37; 'nov': 0.38; 'handle': 0.38; 'to:addr :python-list': 0.38; 'list,': 0.38; 'pm,': 0.38; 'aspects': 0.39; 'to:addr:python.org': 0.39; 'regulations': 0.60; 'mentioned': 0.61; 'effective': 0.61; 'more': 0.64; 'smith': 0.68; 'foreign': 0.74; 'standing': 0.84; 'visitors,': 0.84; 'subject:add': 0.91; 'suited': 0.93; '2013': 0.98 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type; bh=p9i6LP9FhVEvtqwsmTPqoCq8gnQ0IOXn0m3otBpBiSQ=; b=X0sjCg7yp4cZGluE3UIqBaolamTY/ghXbopkFN62XQWR8Q/Xk8nJb99sCpTGmzVGQV sbQ2fBtkDGAlIQkdit2QJniL4aWBb5kTWuFemyPa3Ku7+8TNWtj4RuiaAGLggjBahIfO yZHR41IcYLOkSVXor8A1Ahe8lSJwV4kaacBLXyjI5HaTkt5qnsy4A8t9uHFuFr+AZ9On Z2AYi1+P9zi0opftTbECJWUBKnUWWlEcLvxxHTc94ixo45DyGI7N7AbSlFaODXhQXXUN qGpnAgtVE9sD/nP96niNA36DxERT0Vl/ZYA2ZgbrZ8so1AN6IpewJfPnxt7OsXx1GaFS XwMg== MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.68.254.231 with SMTP id al7mr445517pbd.158.1383484439912; Sun, 03 Nov 2013 05:13:59 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: Date: Mon, 4 Nov 2013 00:13:59 +1100 Subject: Re: How to add a current string into an already existing list From: Chris Angelico To: python-list@python.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-BeenThere: python-list@python.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion list for the Python programming language List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Message-ID: Lines: 21 NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:888:2000:d::a6 X-Trace: 1383484448 news.xs4all.nl 16000 [2001:888:2000:d::a6]:57791 X-Complaints-To: abuse@xs4all.nl Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:58395 On Sun, Nov 3, 2013 at 11:16 PM, Roy Smith wrote: > The limitation, of course, is that the data is opaque as far as the > database goes; you can't do queries against it. But, if all you need to > do is store the list and be able to retrieve it, it's a perfectly > reasonable thing to do, and a lot more efficient than doing a join on a > secondary table. Yeah, that can be an effective way to store complex data - especially if the nesting level isn't fixed. (Normalization can handle a single-level list, but it's a lot messier for handling lists of lists, for instance.) I still think that the OP's task would be best suited to a separate table (one table of visitors, another of downloads, where the Downloads table has a foreign key to Visitors), but I'm reminded of XKCD 1027: the thing standing in the way of his code is that the person coding it... is him. And of course, this is all without getting into the non-code aspects of this proposal - as have been mentioned several times, like EU regulations on retaining this level of data. ChrisA