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Groups > comp.lang.python > #84581

Re: __bases__ misleading error message

From Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu>
Subject Re: __bases__ misleading error message
Date 2015-01-25 16:35 -0500
References (1 earlier) <54c39366$0$13006$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> <MPG.2f2e298c14dbed69989692@nntp.aioe.org> <54c4606a$0$13002$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> <MPG.2f2eecca37bc450998969a@nntp.aioe.org> <54c4dae1$0$13005$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com>
Newsgroups comp.lang.python
Message-ID <mailman.18135.1422221769.18130.python-list@python.org> (permalink)

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On 1/25/2015 7:00 AM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:

> What happens inside the dictionary? Dictionaries are "hash tables", so they
> are basically a big array of cells, and each cell is a pair of pointers,
> one for the key and one for the value:
>
>      [dictionary header]
>      [blank]
>      [blank]
>      [ptr to the string 'y', ptr to the int 42]

At the moment, for CPython, each entry has 3 items, with the first being 
the cached hash of the key.  Hash comparison is first used to test 
whether keys are equal.

   [hash('y'), ptr('y'), ptr(42)]

>      [blank]
>      [ptr to 'x', ptr to 23]
>      [blank]
>      [blank]
>      [blank]
>      [ptr to 'colour', ptr to 'red']
>      [blank]


As you say, these are implementation details.  CPython dicts for the 
instances of at least some classes have a different, specialized 
structure, with two arrays.

In the above, [blank] entries, which are about 1/2 to 2/3 of the 
entries, take the same space as real entries (12 to 24 bytes).  Raymond 
H. has proposed that the standard dict have two arrays like so:

1. the first array is a sparse array of indexes into the second array: 
[b, b, 2, b, 0, b, b, b, 1, b] (where b might be -1 interpreted as 
<blank>), using only as many bytes as needed for the maximum index.

2. the second array is a compact array of entries in insertion order, 
such as

     [hash, ptr to 'x', ptr to 23]
     [hash, ptr to 'colour', ptr to 'red']
     [hash, ptr to the string 'y', ptr to the int 42]

Iteration would use the compact array, making all dicts OrderedDicts. 
Pypy has already switched to this.  It seems that on modern processors 
with multilevel on-chip caches, the space reduction leads to cache-miss 
reductions that compensate for the indirection cost.


-- 
Terry Jan Reedy

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Thread

__bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 10:16 +0000
  Re: __bases__ misleading error message Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2015-01-24 23:43 +1100
    Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 22:14 +0100
      Re: __bases__ misleading error message Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 14:45 -0700
        Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 23:09 +0100
          Re: __bases__ misleading error message Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-01-25 09:25 +1100
            Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 23:33 +0100
              Re: __bases__ misleading error message Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2015-01-25 09:37 +1100
                Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 23:59 +0100
      Re: __bases__ misleading error message Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2015-01-24 16:58 -0500
        Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 23:02 +0100
          Re: __bases__ misleading error message Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 15:16 -0700
            Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 23:36 +0100
      Re: __bases__ misleading error message Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2015-01-25 14:18 +1100
        Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-25 12:07 +0100
          Re: __bases__ misleading error message Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2015-01-25 23:00 +1100
            Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-25 13:49 +0100
              Re: __bases__ misleading error message Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2015-01-25 14:53 +0200
            Re: __bases__ misleading error message Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2015-01-25 16:35 -0500
            Re: __bases__ misleading error message Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2015-01-25 19:21 -0700
    Re: __bases__ misleading error message Marco Buttu <marco.buttu@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 23:09 +0100
    Re: __bases__ misleading error message Marco Buttu <marco.buttu@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 15:12 +0100
  Re: __bases__ misleading error message Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2015-01-24 14:24 -0500
    Re: __bases__ misleading error message Mario Figueiredo <marfig@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 22:03 +0100
    Re: __bases__ misleading error message Marco Buttu <marco.buttu@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 22:51 +0100
      Re: __bases__ misleading error message Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2015-01-24 19:55 -0500
        Re: __bases__ misleading error message Marco Buttu <marco.buttu@gmail.com> - 2015-01-25 11:30 +0100
    Re: __bases__ misleading error message Marco Buttu <marco.buttu@gmail.com> - 2015-01-24 22:51 +0100

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