3 ms·

Doesn't python have sorted sets? Oh, what a pity. Does python only have one single implementation of sets? Too bad. Is the runtime behaviour of that implementat

by xtho 16y ago

Doesn't python have sorted sets? Oh, what a pity. Does python only have one single implementation of sets? Too bad. Is the runtime behaviour of that implementation documented? Let's take a look ... I'll be back. This could take a while.

pjscott 16y ago
Python has sets as a built-in datatype. If someone needs a different implementation, there's nothing stopping them from writing one.
- sreque 16y ago
  A couple of points. 1. I love python. 2. The OP was being a troll. 3. People need to be more honest about themselves and their favorite pet languages. I can write a sorted set in assembler too, if I wanted. However, there's been several times that I've wanted a sorted set data type while coding in Python but found that none was easily available. I hate the, "you can write your own!" counterpoint, because it is essentially meaningless unless you can prove that writing your own is as trivial as importing someone else's implementation.
  - pjscott 16y ago
    I didn't mean to imply that lacking a sorted set datatype wasn't a pain in the ass; I was pointing out that the lack of multiple set implementations is a tradeoff that we make for all built-in datatypes that could support other operations but don't. (Personally, I would love to have the ability to pick a random element from a set. That would be great.) By the way, in case anybody was wondering, here is a (relatively inefficient) way of making a sorted set in python: http://code.activestate.com/recipes/576694/ http://code.activestate.com/recipes/576694/
    - silvertab 16y ago
      Couldn't you just do the following? from random import choice choice(list(myset)) (I'm guessing you'd want to do it without having to convert it to a list first?)
      - pjscott 16y ago
        That's what I ended up doing, but this was happening with a very large set, right in an inner loop. Luckily this was running in batch mode, so I could go get lunch or something instead of taking the time to make it faster.

by xtho 16y ago

pjscott 16y ago

Python has sets as a built-in datatype. If someone needs a different implementation, there's nothing stopping them from writing one.

sreque 16y ago
A couple of points. 1. I love python. 2. The OP was being a troll. 3. People need to be more honest about themselves and their favorite pet languages. I can write a sorted set in assembler too, if I wanted. However, there's been several times that I've wanted a sorted set data type while coding in Python but found that none was easily available. I hate the, "you can write your own!" counterpoint, because it is essentially meaningless unless you can prove that writing your own is as trivial as importing someone else's implementation.
- pjscott 16y ago
  I didn't mean to imply that lacking a sorted set datatype wasn't a pain in the ass; I was pointing out that the lack of multiple set implementations is a tradeoff that we make for all built-in datatypes that could support other operations but don't. (Personally, I would love to have the ability to pick a random element from a set. That would be great.) By the way, in case anybody was wondering, here is a (relatively inefficient) way of making a sorted set in python: http://code.activestate.com/recipes/576694/ http://code.activestate.com/recipes/576694/
  - silvertab 16y ago
    Couldn't you just do the following? from random import choice choice(list(myset)) (I'm guessing you'd want to do it without having to convert it to a list first?)
    - pjscott 16y ago
      That's what I ended up doing, but this was happening with a very large set, right in an inner loop. Luckily this was running in batch mode, so I could go get lunch or something instead of taking the time to make it faster.