Complexity question on Python 3 lists
Dave Angel
d at davea.name
Wed Feb 15 13:45:33 EST 2012
On 02/15/2012 01:20 PM, Franck Ditter wrote:
> What is the cost of calling primes(n) below ? I'm mainly interested in
> knowing if the call to append is O(1), even amortized.
> Do lists in Python 3 behave like ArrayList in Java (if the capacity
> is full, then the array grows by more than 1 element) ?
>
> def sdiv(n) : # n>= 2
> """returns the smallest (prime) divisor of n"""
> if n % 2 == 0 : return 2
> for d in range(3,int(sqrt(n))+1,2) :
> if n % d == 0 : return d
> return n
>
> def isPrime(n) :
> """Returns True iff n is prime"""
> return n>= 2 and n == sdiv(n)
>
> def primes(n) : # n>= 2
> """Returns the list of primes in [2,n]"""
> res = []
> for k in range(2,n+1) :
> if isPrime(k) : res.append(k) # cost O(1) ?
> return res
>
> Thanks,
>
> franck
Yes, lists behave the way you'd expect (see vector in C++), where when
they have to reallocate they do so exponentially.
However, realize that your algorithm is inefficient by a huge factor
more than any time spent expanding lists. The biggest single thing you
need to do is to memoize -- store the list of known primes, and add to
it as you encounter more. Then use that list instead of range(3, xxx,
2) for doing the trial divisions.
--
DaveA
More information about the Python-list
mailing list