Alan I want to perform test runs on my local machine with very large numbers of integers stored in a dictionary. As the Python dictionary is an built-in function I thought that for very large dictionaries there could be compression. Done correctly, integer compression wouldn't affect performance but could enhance it. Weird, I know! I'll check in with the comp.lang.python lot.
Dinesh -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 3 Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:35:53 +0100 From: "Alan Gauld" <alan.ga...@btinternet.com> Subject: Re: [Tutor] Dictionary, integer, compression To: tutor@python.org Message-ID: <gt9vl7$oh...@ger.gmane.org> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original "Dinesh B Vadhia" <dineshbvad...@hotmail.com> wrote > Say, you have a dictionary of integers, are the integers stored > in a compressed integer format or as integers ie. are integers > encoded before being stored in the dictionary and then > decoded when read? I can't think of any reason to compress them, I imagine they are stored as integers. But given the way Python handlers integers with arbitrarily long numbers etc it may well be more complex than a simple integer (ie 4 byte number). But any form of compression would be likely to hit performamce so I doubt that they would be compressed. Is there anything that made you think they might be? HTH -- Alan Gauld Author of the Learn to Program web site http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
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