[Python-Dev] When do sets shrink?

["Martin v. Löwis"]

Noam Raphael wrote:
> The computer scientist in me prefers O() terms over changes in a
> constant factor, but that's only me.

That remark, I don't understand. In a hash table, most "simple"
operations are O(n) as the worst-case time, except for operations
that may cause resizing, which are O(n**2) (worst case).

So you are proposing that .pop() might trigger a resize, thus
changing from O(n) worst case to O(n**2) worst case? Why would
a computer scientist prefer that?

> Perhaps a note about it should be added to the documentation, though?

Sure. Patches (to sf.net/projects/python) are welcome.

Regards,
Martin