[Python-Dev] List vs Tuple / Homogeneous vs Heterogeneous / Mutable vs Immutable

[Ezio Melotti]

Hi,

On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 10:23 PM, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:
> It's definitely something that should be put in some documentation,

see http://bugs.python.org/issue14840 and
https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/datastructures.html#tuples-and-sequences
:
"""
Though tuples may seem similar to lists, they are often used in
different situations and for different purposes. Tuples are immutable,
and usually contain an heterogeneous sequence of elements that are
accessed via unpacking (see later in this section) or indexing (or
even by attribute in the case of namedtuples). Lists are mutable, and
their elements are usually homogeneous and are accessed by iterating
over the list.
"""

Best Regards,
Ezio Melotti

> probably
> at the point when people have learned enough to be designing their own
> programs where this issue comes up -- before they're wizards but well after
> they have learned the semantic differences between lists and tuples.
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 11:49 AM, Brett Cannon <bcannon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu Apr 17 2014 at 2:43:35 PM, Leandro Pereira de Lima e Silva
>> <leandropls at cpti.cetuc.puc-rio.br> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello there!
>>>
>>> I've stumbled upon this discussion on python-dev about what the choice
>>> between using a list or a tuple is all about in 2003:
>>> 1. https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2003-March/033962.html
>>> 2. https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2003-March/034029.html
>>>
>>> There's a vague comment about it on python documentation but afaik there
>>> the discussion hasn't made into any PEPs. Is there an understanding about
>>> it?
>>
>>
>> Think of tuples like a struct in C, lists like an array. That's just out
>> of Guido's head so I don't think we have ever bothered to write it down
>> somewhere as an important distinction of the initial design that should be
>> emphasized.
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> --Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)
>
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