[Python-Dev] List copy and clear (was Re: Inconsistent API for sets.Set and build-in set)

[Tim Peters]

[Raymond Hettinger]
>> the current idiom:
>>
>>    mylist[:] = []       # clear

[Fred L. Drake, Jr.]
> Unless you happen to prefer the other current idiom:
>
>    del mylist[:]

Or my personal favorite,

    while mylist:
        del mylist[::2]

Then the original index positions with the most consecutive trailing 1
bits survive the longest, which is important to avoid ZODB cache bugs
<wink>.