[Python-Dev] Repeatability of looping over dicts

[Guido van Rossum]

On Jan 5, 2008 6:58 AM,  <skip at pobox.com> wrote:
>
>     Guido> What code would break if we loosened this restriction?
>
> I don't know how much, but I do know I've relied on this behavior before.
> (In fact, I've asked about it before.)  I guess the counter question to
> yours would be, "What would be gained by loosening this restriction"?  If
> the answer is, "not much", then I don't see why this is even an idle
> thought.

It sounds like loosening the restriction would allow Jython to use an
implementation that is more efficient when used concurrently.

That may not be sufficient reason; Jython apps that need a more
efficient concurrent dict could import the ConcurrentHashMap class
directly, and CPython apps are out of luck anyway.

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)