[Python-3000] PEPs update

[Daniel Stutzbach]

On 5/11/07, Raymond Hettinger <python at rcn.com> wrote:
> Newly developed code always faces an uphill battle when compared to
> mature open-source.

As it should. :-)

> End-users (everyday Python programmers) need to be understand the
> performance intuitively and have a clear understanding of what is going
> on under-the-hood.  Our existing data structures have the virtue of having a
> simple mental model (except for aspects of re-sizing and over-allocation which
> are a bit obscure).

I guess I have a different perspective.  One advantage of the BList is
that the user doesn't *need* to understand what's going on
under-the-hood.  They can rely on it to have good performance for any
operation.

One of my motivations in creating it was so I could be more lazy in
the future.  With a BList, I don't have to wonder whether Python code
I write will ever be called with a really big list, and, if so,
whether I need to rewrite my algorithm to avoid O(n^2) behavior.

> That would likely be an informative exercise and would assure that your code
> is truly interchangable with regular lists.  It would also highlight the
> under-the-hood difficulties you'll encounter with the C-API.
>
> That being said, it is a labor intensive exercise and the time might be better
> spent on tweaking the third-party module code and building a happy user-base.

I actually don't think it will be that bad, since list operations go
through one thin API.  I just need to redirect the API in listobject.h
and I'm mostly done.  I think.

Maybe I'll take a quick pass at it, and if it turns into a nightmare,
I'll reconsider.

> > Indeed, I wrote the BList because there were idioms that I
> > wanted to use that were just not practical with an array-based list.
>
> We ought to set up a page on the wiki for success stories with blist as a
> third-party module.  In time, the Right Answer (tm) will become self-evident.

I haven't used the python.org wiki before.  If you point me to the
right place put a link to a BList page, I'd be happy to create one.
Somewhere under UsefulModules?

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