On 4/12/07, Alan Isaac <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Chris Mellon said: > > Sure. I have never done this. In fact, I have only ever written code > > that converted a tuple to a list once, and it was because I wanted > > pop(), not index() > > Well then you apparently made a *mistake*: you chose a tuple when you > wanted a mutable object. That is really beside the point. >
The tuple in question was function varargs. Yes, I wanted a mutable object, thats why I made a list out of it. Whether varargs should be a list or a tuple to begin with is open to debate, but it's not likely you'd want to use index() on it either way. > And you missed the point of my query. It is not that existing code will > contain such a conversion to get access to the index method. It is that > if you choose tuples to represent immutable sequences, sooner or later > you will find you need to change your code to use a list not because you > really want a mutable sequence but because you want the ``index`` method. > That may have been your point, but it's not what you said. I've never converted a tuple to a list because I needed index(). I've never used a list where a tuple would be "more natural" soley because I needed to search it, either. I have never used index() in a situation where the sequence in question wasn't both a) mutable and b) actually was mutated in the course of program. > Note that it has become clear that some people do not use tuples hardly > ever, regardless whether their sequence is naturally mutable or > immutable. Why? Because they want access the the list methods. > **All** of these people fall in the category I am talking about. > I do not really care if you reach mentally and then fix or actually type it. > The avoidance of tuples, so carefully defended in other terms, > is often rooted (I claim) in habits formed from need for list methods like > ``index`` and ``count``. Indeed, I predict that Python tuples > will eventually have these methods and that these same people > will then defend *that* status quo. > I use tuples all the time. There are more incidences of tuple usage than list usage in my current codebase. My opinions on tuples still stand. I use tuples when I already know what goes into them and in what order. index() and count() are totally useless when you use tuples (or, indeed, any sequence) in this manner. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
