[Patches] [ python-Patches-1080078 ] list sort is not "in place"

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Patches item #1080078, was opened at 2004-12-06 12:15
Message generated for change (Settings changed) made by tim_one
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Category: Documentation
Group: Python 2.4
>Status: Closed
>Resolution: Rejected
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Heikki Orsila (shd)
>Assigned to: Tim Peters (tim_one)
Summary: list sort is not "in place"

Initial Comment:
list sort method says the sort algorithm is "in place",
but it is not. It requires O(N) extra memory at worst
case. A patch is attached that corrects the
documentation in Objects/listobjects.c.




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>Comment By: Tim Peters (tim_one)
Date: 2004-12-06 12:48

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Sorry, I'm rejecting this.  Of course it's "in place":  x.sort() 
does not return a new list.  Its only visible effect is to 
permute the elements of x.  That's what "in place" means.

That the current implementation may require temp memory is 
irrelevant to that, and *because* it's an internal 
implementation detail, doesn't belong in the docstring.  
The "in place" was added to the docstring because many 
newcomers believed x.sort() left x alone, and returned a new 
list in sorted order (which is what the new-in-2.4 sorted() 
builtin does).

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