On 2:59 PM, Alex Hall wrote:
On 9/27/10, Brian Jones<bkjo...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 11:32 AM, Alex Hall<mehg...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all,
One thing I have never much liked about Python is its need for
specifically sized arrays and lack of a dynamic, array-like data
structure. For example, the following fails with a "list assignment
index out of range" error:
a=[]
i=0
for l in open("file.txt", "r"):
a[i]=l
i+=1
Is there some reason to use this construct rather than the list object's
'append' method?
for i in open('file.txt', 'r'):
a.append(l)
Ah, good thought. So exactly what are the functional differences
between a list and an array in Python, or are they so close that it
makes no difference which you use? It seems like you can index into
both with the bracket notation. Are lists limited in any way that
makes them not as desirable as arrays?
<snip>
an array is of homogeneous type, so it takes much less space. On the
other hand, if you ever want to have some elements different from
others, you need to use list., Similarly, if the type of data isn't one
of the dozen or so defined array types, you need to use list.
DaveA
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