On: Codon: A high-performance Python-like compiler usi...

[joshmaker]

In 25 years you’ve never once created a list with more than one type of object in it?

[throwaway894345 → joshmaker]

I mean, it depends on what you mean by “type”. A list of some Protocol type (what other languages call “interfaces”) is still a homogenous list even though the concrete types are heterogeneous. This is almost always what you want when you’re thinking of “a heterogeneous list”.

[bombolo → throwaway894345]

It's not unheard of to have unions and a couple of if isinstance.

In fact it's why in python they even have the | operator between types nowadays.

[mangecoeur → joshmaker]

I have also been using python a long time and i honestly can’t remember a time i used mixed type list.

[querez → mangecoeur]

In my code this comes up often, e.g. when I use tuples instead of namedtuple or a dataclass.

[bastawhiz → querez]

Tuples aren't lists though. Tuples are really just structs with indexes instead of names.

[ris → mangecoeur]

Never have to handle/forward function calls with arbitrary arguments? What do you think *args is?

[mangecoeur → ris]

a tuple

[froggit → mangecoeur]

I use mixed lists all the time to store shit, but I'm also a total python newb that really doesn't know better.

[cjohnson318 → joshmaker]

Maybe a list with ThingObject or None, but my lists are usually homogenous.

[mrfox321 → cjohnson318]

thats just homogenous Sequence[Optional[T]], though.

[cjohnson318 → mrfox321]

Yeah, that's a better way of putting it :) 90% of the time, I'm something like Sequence[T], but I'm sure I've used Sequence[Optional[T]] a couple of times. I mean, I could drive donuts in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot at 3a, I just don't, and the same for heterogenous lists.

[agumonkey → mrfox321]

And everything is a subtype of Any. The usual 'static typing' of dynlangs.

[bombolo → mrfox321]

well list[int|str] is as well

[gautamdivgi → joshmaker]

I’ll second that. I’ve been doing python for a while and haven’t used the mixed type list. I’ve actively avoided doing something like that. The situation doesn’t come up often.

[terhechte → joshmaker]

Same here. If I needed that I might use a tuple.

[amelius → terhechte]

And then it crashes when you convert it to JSON.

[UncleEntity → amelius]

I just use an extension wrapper around boost::property_tree for my json (and xml) needs. Way faster than the built in json support and does automagic type conversion so I don’t have to worry about it.

Now, I’m not running at Web Scale™ but pure python was slow enough to be annoying.

[eddsh1994 → joshmaker]

Huh, thinking about it I haven't in 9 years either