Raymond, Facundo, May I suggest that you implement an interface similar to the sort() method for list objects: ========================= sort([cmp[, key[, reverse]]]) "cmp specifies a custom comparison function of two arguments (list items) which should return a negative, zero or positive number depending on whether the first argument is considered smaller than, equal to, or larger than the second argument: cmp=lambda x,y: cmp(x.lower(), y.lower()). The default value is None. "key specifies a function of one argument that is used to extract a comparison key from each list element: key=str.lower. The default value is None. "reverse is a boolean value. If set to True, then the list elements are sorted as if each comparison were reversed." ======================== You could add these option arguments to the Heap class constructor, which would then be used to maintain the heap. The _reverse_ argument would cover the min/max heap question. The other arguments would allow the user to use the class for a priority queue of more complex objects. For example, the Heap could consist of object references that would be compared using the function supplied in _cmp_ or _key_ arguments. On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 7:40 PM, Raymond Hettinger <python@rcn.com> wrote:
Facundo, I would like to work with you on this. I've been the primary maintainer for heapq for a while and had already started working on something like this in response to repeated requested to support a key= function (like that for sorted/min/max).
Raymond
I think that changing "external list" for "internal attribute", and "bunch of functions " for "methods", it will leave the module easier to use, safer, and more object oriented.
+1 -- I recently did a short presentation on Big O notation and Python containers, and heapq looked remarkably ugly.
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