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Re: Balanced trees

References (15 earlier) <531d3058$0$29994$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> <87eh2atw6s.fsf@elektro.pacujo.net> <roy-BE3C76.09590110032014@news.panix.com> <mailman.8007.1394468681.18130.python-list@python.org> <8761nmrnfk.fsf@elektro.pacujo.net>
Date 2014-03-11 04:17 +1100
Subject Re: Balanced trees
From Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Newsgroups comp.lang.python
Message-ID <mailman.8013.1394471845.18130.python-list@python.org> (permalink)

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On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 4:08 AM, Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> wrote:
> Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>:
>
>> The only difference between a tree and a hash here is that the tree
>> might be able to short-cut the comparisons. But if there are a whole
>> bunch of songs with the same "song" and "user", then the tree has to
>> compare (song->song? same; user->user? same; add_time->add_time?
>> left/right) multiple times. So what you're saying is that the hash
>> table has consistency but the tree could do better or could do worse.
>> (Imagine, worst case, all one million records have the same
>> song/user/add_time and you need to do twenty comparisons involving
>> four fields. That's gotta be worse than one hashing of five fields.)
>
> You are right that in the end there probably is an equality test
> involving all fields of the key. However, the intermediate comparisons
> are often dealt with much more immediately. For example, to compare the
> words "hello" and "world", you only need to look at the first letter.

Right, which is what I meant about the consistency of a hash table.
You know, with a hash table, that you're going to need to calculate
the hash across everything. The tree lets you cheaply add
disambiguation fields, knowing they'll be used only if they're needed.

Oddly enough, the consistency in design is inverted by the
predictability under attack. If an attacker might be able to generate
hash collisions, the tree (assuming it's self-balancing) will have its
worst-case much closer to its average/typical cases, which means the
tree is more consistent. Strange how that goes, sometimes.

> Anyway, this whole debate is rather unnecessary since every developer is
> supposed to have both weapons in their arsenal.

Supposed to have? What does that mean, a language isn't ISO-compliant
unless it provides both? With a high level language like Python, using
the provided hash table will almost always cream any hand-built tree,
no matter how advantageous the data is to the tree.

ChrisA

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Tuples and immutability Eric Jacoboni <eric.jacoboni@gmail.com> - 2014-02-27 17:01 +0100
  Re: Tuples and immutability Zachary Ware <zachary.ware+pylist@gmail.com> - 2014-02-27 10:13 -0600
    Re: Tuples and immutability Eric Jacoboni <eric.jacoboni@gmail.com> - 2014-02-27 17:27 +0100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 03:33 +1100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Zachary Ware <zachary.ware+pylist@gmail.com> - 2014-02-27 10:47 -0600
      Re: Tuples and immutability Nick Timkovich <prometheus235@gmail.com> - 2014-02-27 15:47 -0600
      Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 08:52 +1100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-02-27 15:18 -0700
        Re: Tuples and immutability Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 19:01 -0700
          Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-12 13:10 +1100
          Re: Tuples and immutability Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-03-11 23:25 -0400
            Re: Tuples and immutability Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-12 06:28 +0000
              Re: Tuples and immutability Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2014-03-12 10:39 +0100
              Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-12 03:40 -0600
              Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-12 03:51 -0600
              Re: Tuples and immutability Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2014-03-12 12:21 +0100
          Re: Tuples and immutability Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-03-11 23:32 -0700
          Re: Tuples and immutability Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2014-03-12 10:20 +0000
      Re: Tuples and immutability Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 18:55 +0000
  Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 03:14 +1100
  Re: Tuples and immutability Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-02-27 18:19 +0200
    Re: Tuples and immutability John O'Hagan <research@johnohagan.com> - 2014-02-28 16:17 +1100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-02-28 09:54 +0200
  Re: Tuples and immutability Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2014-02-28 14:41 +0000
  Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 01:43 +1100
    Re: Tuples and immutability Duncan Booth <duncan.booth@invalid.invalid> - 2014-03-07 09:33 +0000
      Re: Tuples and immutability Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2014-03-07 22:04 +1100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-07 22:11 +1100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Peter Otten <__peter__@web.de> - 2014-03-07 12:38 +0100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-07 22:45 +1100
      Re: Tuples and immutability Alister <alister.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2014-03-07 11:51 +0000
        Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-07 11:23 -0700
      Re: Tuples and immutability Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-07 08:37 -0500
      Re: Tuples and immutability Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2014-03-08 15:17 +1300
        Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-07 21:17 -0700
          Balanced trees (was: Re: Tuples and immutability) Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-08 10:34 +0200
            Re: Balanced trees (was: Re: Tuples and immutability) Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-08 04:03 -0700
              Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-08 13:26 +0200
            Re: Balanced trees (was: Re: Tuples and immutability) Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-08 11:58 -0800
            Re: Balanced trees Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-03-08 20:37 +0000
              Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-08 23:21 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-08 17:22 -0500
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-09 11:17 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-08 17:31 -0800
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-09 11:27 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-09 14:20 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-09 23:32 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-09 14:37 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-09 23:43 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-09 15:08 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-10 00:24 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-09 18:04 -0600
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-10 03:24 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-10 03:24 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-10 08:16 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-10 08:53 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-10 11:41 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2014-03-10 06:57 -0400
                Re: Balanced trees Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-03-10 09:01 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-11 02:02 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-10 22:20 -0400
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 13:29 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-03-10 09:51 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-10 09:59 -0400
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 03:20 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 03:24 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-10 19:08 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 04:17 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-10 19:34 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-13 12:40 -0600
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-13 23:57 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-13 20:12 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-14 05:02 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-10 19:24 -0400
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 10:27 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-11 01:26 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 12:45 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-10 21:38 -0600
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 15:28 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees "Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.org.uk> - 2014-03-12 00:57 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-11 12:12 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2014-03-12 10:13 +1000
                Re: Balanced trees Alister <alister.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2014-03-11 09:25 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2014-03-12 10:08 +0100
                Re: Balanced trees Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2014-03-10 11:33 -0500
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 03:39 +1100
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-10 18:05 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-10 22:13 -0400
                Re: Balanced trees Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2014-03-10 19:57 -0400
            Re: Balanced trees Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2014-03-15 01:13 +0000
              Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-18 00:05 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-18 12:26 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-18 22:55 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-18 14:45 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-19 00:03 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-18 15:21 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-19 01:11 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-19 01:15 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-19 10:49 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-19 13:42 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-19 15:54 +0200
                Re: Balanced trees Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2014-03-19 10:06 -0400
                Re: Balanced trees Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-19 01:15 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-03-19 08:15 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees "Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.org.uk> - 2014-03-20 02:16 +0000
                Re: Balanced trees Dan Stromberg <drsalists@gmail.com> - 2014-03-19 19:34 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Chris Kaynor <ckaynor@zindagigames.com> - 2014-03-18 18:02 -0700
                Re: Balanced trees Daniel Stutzbach <stutzbach@google.com> - 2014-03-18 13:18 -0700
            blist in standard library  (was Re: Balanced trees) Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-03-15 12:31 +0000
            Re: Balanced trees Daniel Stutzbach <stutzbach@google.com> - 2014-03-17 14:16 -0700
            Re: Balanced trees Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2014-03-18 00:08 +0000
            Re: Balanced trees Daniel Stutzbach <stutzbach@google.com> - 2014-03-17 18:01 -0700
            Re: Balanced trees Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2014-03-18 07:46 +0000
          Re: Tuples and immutability Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2014-03-09 13:40 +1300
            Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-08 19:39 -0700
              Re: Tuples and immutability Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2014-03-09 11:35 +0200
              Re: Tuples and immutability Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2014-03-10 11:03 +1300
                Re: Tuples and immutability Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-03-09 19:00 -0400
                Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-09 17:42 -0600
                Re: Tuples and immutability Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-10 02:37 +0000
                Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-10 02:35 -0600
                Re: Tuples and immutability Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-10 09:13 +0000
                Re: Tuples and immutability Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2014-03-11 18:15 +1300
                Re: Tuples and immutability Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2014-03-11 18:03 +1300
                Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 04:39 -0600
                Re: Tuples and immutability Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-11 16:46 +0000
                Re: Tuples and immutability Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2014-03-12 10:23 +1300
                Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-11 17:06 -0600
                Re: Tuples and immutability Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-03-12 23:20 +0000
                Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-12 19:35 -0600
                Re: Tuples and immutability Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-03-12 22:09 -0400
          Re: Tuples and immutability Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2014-03-09 13:45 +1300
            Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-08 19:55 -0700
  Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 16:22 -0800
    Re: Tuples and immutability Eric Jacoboni <eric.jacoboni@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 02:27 +0100
      Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 20:45 -0800
        Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 22:34 -0700
          Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 21:50 -0800
            Re: Tuples and immutability Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2014-03-01 12:56 -0500
      Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 22:26 -0700
    Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 12:39 +1100
    Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 22:16 -0700
      Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 22:16 -0800
        Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 17:29 +1100
        Re: Tuples and immutability Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-03-01 14:54 +0000
          Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 13:01 -0800
      Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-02-28 22:25 -0800
        Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 12:45 -0700
      Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 13:21 -0800
        Re: Tuples and immutability Eric Jacoboni <eric.jacoboni@gmail.com> - 2014-03-02 03:04 +0100
          Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 18:28 -0800
          Re: Tuples and immutability Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-03-02 05:32 -0700
            Re: Tuples and immutability Eric Jacoboni <eric.jacoboni@gmail.com> - 2014-03-02 14:38 +0100
              Re: Tuples and immutability Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-03-02 14:05 +0000
                Re: Tuples and immutability Eric Jacoboni <eric.jacoboni@gmail.com> - 2014-03-02 15:17 +0100
                Re: Tuples and immutability "albert visser" <albert.visser@gmail.com> - 2014-03-02 15:37 +0100
        Re: Tuples and immutability "Mark H. Harris" <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-03-01 18:15 -0800
  Re: Tuples and immutability Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2014-03-09 17:54 +0000
  Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-10 05:13 +1100
  Re: Tuples and immutability Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2014-03-09 19:57 +0000
  Re: Tuples and immutability Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-03-10 07:06 +1100

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