On Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:07:38 +0100, bart.c wrote: > (Although I have an issue with the way that that append works. I tried > it in another, simpler language (which always does deep copies): > > L:=(1,2,3) > L append:= L > print L > > output: (1,2,3,(1,2,3)) > > which is exactly what I'd expect, > and not (1,2,3,(1,2,3,(1,2,3,...))) )
I find that behaviour a big surprise. You asked to append the list L, not a copy of the list L. So why is this "simpler" language making a copy without being asked? If you asked for: L:=(1,2,3) M:=(0,1) M append:= L does it also append a copy of L instead of L? If so, how do you append the original rather than wastefully making a copy? If L is huge, making a copy before appending will be slow, and potentially fail. -- Steven -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
