Hi Enrique, > If we have a linear list for which we need fast access, we can do > another thing: Instead of substituting the list with an array > structure, we can keep the list and use an array as a helper of the > original list.
Do you think this is a good idea? OK, you have a list then, where you can access the elements by index. But if you have such a redundant structure, where the array elements point into the list, you have a large overhead to build both the array and the list. You can't do any changes (cons, insert, delete, reverse) without rebuilding the array. And - as before - you have to keep track of your arrays to know when to dispose them. I'm still not convinced at all that accessing list elements by a numeric index is really needed, or at least justifies the effort. The mentioned 'hash' mechanism is alread there, in constructs like the built-in 'cache' function (see also the answer by Denis Fourt). ♪♫ Alex -- UNSUBSCRIBE: mailto:picolisp@software-lab.de?subject=Unsubscribe
