Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization

References	(5 earlier) <5098A55C.3090201@r3dsolutions.com> <CAPTjJmpjwNtn-Dj2vyP2CPt+BZUzBgCkCvG=3J=x5=2ftmV04A@mail.gmail.com> <5098C873.2000200@r3dsolutions.com> <CALwzidmx0HxJ9-2GkzPWMV5VCKc+ypOp8D2qSxw-MfmyS9No1Q@mail.gmail.com> <509982CA.7050701@r3dsolutions.com>
From	Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com>
Date	2012-11-06 15:46 -0700
Subject	Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization
Newsgroups	comp.lang.python
Message-ID	<mailman.3342.1352242045.27098.python-list@python.org> (permalink)

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On Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 2:36 PM, Andrew Robinson
<andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> wrote:
> I meant all lists are shallow copied from the innermost level out.
> Equivalently, it's a deep copy of list objects -- but a shallow copy of any list contents except other lists.

Why only list objects, though?  When a user writes [[]] * 10, they
probably want a list containing ten distinct nested lists.  Likewise,
when a user writes [{}] * 10, they probably want a list containing ten
distinct dicts, which is not at all an uncommon thing to want.  It
seems very inconsistent that the former should work while the latter
should not.  This is especially true when you start mixing the two
paradigms; the user might expect [[{}] * 10] * 10 to create a a 10x10
matrix where each element is a distinct dict, but this still would not
work, even though the nested lists would all have different
identities.

What about ([],) * 10?  This is perhaps best interpreted as a request
to create a matrix of ten rows where the rows themselves are mutable
but the collection of rows is not.  If list multiplication were to
copy nested lists, then should tuple multiplication do the same?

Thread

Multi-dimensional list initialization Demian Brecht <demianbrecht@gmail.com> - 2012-11-04 22:27 -0800
  Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Hans Mulder <hansmu@xs4all.nl> - 2012-11-05 10:13 +0100
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 01:32 +0000
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 13:01 +1100
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 02:30 +0000
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Andrew Robinson <andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> - 2012-11-05 21:51 -0800
      Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-06 09:04 +0000
        RE: Multi-dimensional list initialization "Shambhu Rajak" <shambhu.rajak@calsoftinc.com> - 2012-11-06 18:57 +0530
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Andrew Robinson <andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> - 2012-11-06 14:41 -0800
          Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-07 01:55 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Demian Brecht <demianbrecht@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 22:56 -0800
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2012-11-07 00:57 -0800
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-11-07 22:27 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-11-07 16:39 -0700
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-11-08 00:09 -0700
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-11-08 08:58 -0700
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-11-09 01:39 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-11-09 17:07 +1100
              Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-09 06:37 +0000
                Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-11-09 17:59 +1100
                Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-11-09 07:27 +0000
                Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2012-11-09 07:05 -0800
                Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-11-10 02:23 +1100
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2012-11-09 14:34 -0500
            RE: Multi-dimensional list initialization "Prasad, Ramit" <ramit.prasad@jpmorgan.com> - 2012-11-09 20:31 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2012-11-09 13:49 -0800
        RE: Multi-dimensional list initialization "Prasad, Ramit" <ramit.prasad@jpmorgan.com> - 2012-11-06 23:39 +0000
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 16:52 -0700
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2012-11-07 00:23 +0000
          Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 20:11 -0800
          Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-07 05:05 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2012-11-07 00:12 -0500
              Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2012-11-07 18:32 +1300
                RE: Multi-dimensional list initialization "Prasad, Ramit" <ramit.prasad@jpmorgan.com> - 2012-11-07 15:57 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Jussi Piitulainen <jpiitula@ling.helsinki.fi> - 2012-11-07 10:52 +0200
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2012-11-07 17:17 +0000
              Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-07 22:36 +0000
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2012-11-07 07:23 -0800
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-11-07 14:01 -0700
          Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-08 00:00 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2012-11-08 00:30 +0000
              Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-08 03:47 +0000
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Andrew Robinson <andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> - 2012-11-07 20:51 -0800
            Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization wrw@mac.com - 2012-11-08 08:26 -0500
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Andrew Robinson <andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> - 2012-11-07 16:24 -0800
          Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2012-11-08 04:20 +0000
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 17:07 +1100
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Andrew Robinson <andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> - 2012-11-06 00:21 -0800
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 02:19 -0700
    RE: Multi-dimensional list initialization "Prasad, Ramit" <ramit.prasad@jpmorgan.com> - 2012-11-06 17:32 +0000
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Andrew Robinson <andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> - 2012-11-06 13:14 -0800
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Andrew Robinson <andrew3@r3dsolutions.com> - 2012-11-06 13:19 -0800
    Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-11-06 15:46 -0700
      Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2012-11-07 18:34 +1300
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2012-11-07 14:00 +0000
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2012-11-07 06:47 -0800
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin@gmail.com> - 2012-11-07 23:06 +0000
        Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization Greg Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2012-11-08 14:29 +1300
  Re: Multi-dimensional list initialization wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2012-11-05 01:55 -0800

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