On May 21, 2006, at 2:23 PM, Collin Winter wrote: > This is something I've been meaning to bring up: if we're serious > about the "tuples = fixed-length collections, lists = unknown-length > collections" distinction, then the CPython core should switch over to > this mindset as well.
Although lists are *often* used for unknown-length ordered homogenous collections, and tuples are *often* used for fixed-length heterogeneous collections, I think it would be a mistake to try to define them this way. In particular, there is at least one other important difference between tuples and lists: mutability. If you need to use an unknown-length sequence as a key, then it's very natural to use a tuple. And if you want a fixed-length heterogeneous collection that's mutable, then it's natural to use a list. -Edward _______________________________________________ Python-3000 mailing list Python-3000@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-3000 Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-3000/archive%40mail-archive.com
