[Python-3000] PEPs update

[Daniel Stutzbach]

On 5/10/07, Raymond Hettinger <python at rcn.com> wrote:
> > 3128 (BList) -- I'll leave this for Raymond Hettinger to review.
>
> After looking at the source, I think this has almost zero chance for replacing
> list().  There is too much value in a simple C API, low space overhead for small lists,

Thanks for taking time to review my code.  Did you look through the
PEP as well?  Both of these issues were specifically addressed.  In
fact, I am half way done with implementing the change so that small
BLists are memory efficient.

> good performance is common use cases,

This is also addressed, to some extent, in the PEP.

> and having performance that is easily understood.

I am not sure what aspect of the performance might be misunderstood.
Just about everything is O(log n).  Could you clarify your concern?

> The BList implementation lacks these virtues and trades-off a little performance
> is common cases for much better performance in uncommon cases.  As a Py3.0
> PEP, I think it can be rejected.

Would it be useful if I created an experimental fork of 2.5 that
replaces array-based lists with BLists, so that the performance
penalty (if any) on existing code can be measured?

> Depending on its success as a third-party module, it still has a chance for
> inclusion in the collections module.  The essential criteria for that is whether
> it is a superior choice for some real-world use cases.  I've scanned my own
> code and found no instances where BList would have been preferable to a
> regular list.  However, that scan has a selection bias because it doesn't reflect
> what I would have written had BList been available.

Indeed, I wrote the BList because there were idioms that I wanted to
use that were just not practical with an array-based list.

-- 
Daniel Stutzbach, Ph.D.             President, Stutzbach Enterprises LLC