Re: book recommendation for Python newbie?
Mike Driscoll wrote: A lot of people recommend Lutz's "Learning Python". While I haven't read it, I have read his follow-up "Programming Python" and it was I found Learning Python good for learning, and a useful reference sometimes, but it can seem very slow paced if you already know some other language. Another problem is that the author seems unable to drop any material that is out of date; the pace is slowed by explanations of what you might need to do if using a very old version. The third edition is even worse is that respect. Also, being based of the author's training experience, is not always a good thing. I prefer a book to sitting in a class because I don't want to fall asleep whilst the instructor repeats an explanation yet again for the benefit of those at the back, nor wait while clever-clogs at the front asks an arcane question of no general interest. Learning Python is too much like sitting in a classroom for me. If you already know some programming Python in a Nutshell is very useful. good. You might also look at Hetland's "Beginning Python" or even the "Python for Dummies" book. Mike -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
Re: Append a new value to dict
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch:
counter['B'] = counter.get('B', 0) + 1
If you benchmark it, you will find that using the get() method it's
quite slower.
Slower than
if 'B' in counter:
> counter['B'] += 1
> else:
> counter['B'] = 1
?
It is not slower than defaultdict which I have compared to
>> counter['B'] = counter.get('B', 0) + 1
on a file with 125,000 additions default dict was significantly slower
(only ~40seconds v ~30 secs for get) and used twice the memory.
--
djc
--
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
at_most: search "dictionary" for less than or equal
Before I set out to reinvent the wheel. I want a dictionary-like structure for which most lookups will be on a key that is not in the "dictionary"; in which case I want a key/value returned which is the closest key that is less than the search term. The batch solution of matching the values in two sorted sequences is efficient but a random lookup would be more convenient. A solution based on AVL trees seems possible. -- djc -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
