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Diffstat (limited to 'Objects/listsort.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Objects/listsort.txt | 8 |
1 files changed, 8 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Objects/listsort.txt b/Objects/listsort.txt index 17d2797..8c87751 100644 --- a/Objects/listsort.txt +++ b/Objects/listsort.txt @@ -753,3 +753,11 @@ example, with the region of uncertainty B[4], B[5], B[6], there are 4 locations: before B[4], between B[4] and B[5], between B[5] and B[6], and after B[6]. In general, across 2**(k-1)-1 elements, there are 2**(k-1) locations. That's why k-1 binary searches are necessary and sufficient. + +OPTIMIZATION OF INDIVIDUAL COMPARISONS +As noted above, even the simplest Python comparison triggers a large pile of +C-level pointer dereferences, conditionals, and function calls. This can be +partially mitigated by pre-scanning the data to determine whether the data is +homogenous with respect to type. If so, it is sometimes possible to +substitute faster type-specific comparisons for the slower, generic +PyObject_RichCompareBool. |