Re: Need help understanding list structure

From	Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.python
Subject	Re: Need help understanding list structure
Date	2016-05-03 09:43 +1000
Message-ID	<mailman.332.1462232638.32212.python-list@python.org> (permalink)
References	<d6b0c524-f020-4726-b91a-517b2e8024ea@googlegroups.com> <5727CB31.5060309@lucidity.plus.com> <mailman.329.1462225716.32212.python-list@python.org> <ab5d3884-77ed-45d4-86ab-0333bf67dca1@googlegroups.com> <85mvo8gh57.fsf@benfinney.id.au>

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moa47401@gmail.com writes:

> Am I correct in assuming that parsing a large text file would be
> quicker returning pointers instead of strings?

What do you mean by “return a pointer”? Python doesn't have pointers.

In the Python language, a container type (such as ‘set’, ‘list’, ‘dict’,
etc.) contains the objects directly. There are no “pointers” there; by
accessing the items of a container, you access the items directly.

What do you mean by “would be quicker”? I am concerned you are seeking
speed of the program at the expense of understandability and clarity of
the code.

Instead, you should be writing clear, maintainable code.

*Only if* the clear, maintainable code you write then actually ends up
being too slow, should you then worry about what parts are quick or slow
by *measuring* the specific parts of code to discover what is actually
occupying the time.

-- 
 \         “All television is educational television. The question is: |
  `\                           what is it teaching?” —Nicholas Johnson |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney

Thread

Need help understanding list structure moa47401@gmail.com - 2016-05-02 14:30 -0700
  Re: Need help understanding list structure Erik <python@lucidity.plus.com> - 2016-05-02 22:48 +0100
    Re: Need help understanding list structure moa47401@gmail.com - 2016-05-02 15:33 -0700
      Re: Need help understanding list structure Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2016-05-02 17:25 -0600
      Re: Need help understanding list structure Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-05-03 09:43 +1000
        Re: Need help understanding list structure moa47401@gmail.com - 2016-05-03 06:21 -0700
          Re: Need help understanding list structure Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-05-03 23:47 +1000
            Re: Need help understanding list structure moa47401@gmail.com - 2016-05-03 09:01 -0700
              RE: Need help understanding list structure Dan Strohl <D.Strohl@F5.com> - 2016-05-03 16:52 +0000
                Re: Need help understanding list structure moa47401@gmail.com - 2016-05-03 10:31 -0700
                RE: Need help understanding list structure Dan Strohl <D.Strohl@F5.com> - 2016-05-03 17:54 +0000
                Use __repr__ to show the programmer's representation (was: Need help understanding list structure) Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-05-04 04:14 +1000
                RE: Use __repr__ to show the programmer's representation (was: Need help understanding list structure) Dan Strohl <D.Strohl@F5.com> - 2016-05-03 18:35 +0000
                Re: Use __repr__ to show the programmer's representation (was: Need help understanding list structure) moa47401@gmail.com - 2016-05-03 12:24 -0700
                Re: Use __repr__ to show the programmer's representation (was: Need help understanding list structure) Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-05-03 15:37 -0400
                Re: Need help understanding list structure MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2016-05-03 20:57 +0100
                Re: Use __repr__ to show the programmer's representation (was: Need help understanding list structure) Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-05-04 09:40 +1000

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