Efficient implementation of deeply nested lists

[Peter Otten]

Kay Schluehr wrote:

> The structure of the sequence is not optional. Of course you can also
> take the original sequence and apply:
 
>>>> L = list([a1, [a2, [....[aN, [x]]...]])  # shallow copy
>>>> L[0] = b

I don't understand the example. Wouldn't you have to do

L[1][1]...[1] = b 

to change x?
 
> but it is intended to change the most inner element. I guess there is
> no way in doing it without a deepcopy / full list construction.
 
Yes, if you cannot change the nesting I don't see a way to avoid deepcopy
either.

Peter