On Apr 28, 5:39 pm, Li Wang <li.wan...@gmail.com> wrote: > 2009/4/29 Tim Chase <python.l...@tim.thechases.com>: > > >> I want to concatenate two bits string together: say we have '1001' and > >> '111' which are represented in integer. I want to concatenate them to > >> '1001111' (also in integer form), my method is: > >> ('1001' << 3) | 111 > >> which is very time consuming. > > > You omit some key details -- namely how do you know that "1001" is 4 bits > > and not "00001001" (8-bits)? If it's a string (as your current code shows), > > you can determine the length. However, if they are actually ints, your code > > should work fine & be O(1). > > Actually, what I have is a list of integer numbers [3,55,99,44], and > by using Huffman coding or fixed length coding, I will know how the > bits-length for each number. When I try to concatenate them (say > 10,000 items in the list) all together, the speed is going down > quickly (because of the shifting operations of python long). > > > > > This can be abstracted if you need: > > > def combine_bits(int_a, int_b, bit_len_b): > > return (int_a << bit_len_b) | int_b > > > a = 0x09 > > b = 0x07 > > print combine_bits(a, b, 3) > > > However, if you're using gargantuan ints (as discussed before), it's a lot > > messier. You'd have to clarify the storage structure (a byte string? a > > python long?) > > I am using a single python long to store all the items in the list > (say, 10,000 items), so the work does become messier...
Using GMPY (http://code.google.com/p/gmpy/) may offer a performance improvement. When shifting multi-thousand bit numbers, GMPY is several times faster than Python longs. GMPY also support functions to scan for 0 or 1 bits. > > > -tkc > > > PS: You may want to CC the mailing list so that others get a crack at > > answering your questions...I've been adding it back in, but you've been > > replying just to me. > > Sorry, this is the first time I am using mail-list....and always > forgot "reply to all" > > Thank you very much:D > > > > -- > Li > ------ > Time is all we have > and you may find one day > you have less than you think -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list