MetaKit for python (Mk4py) on Macintosh ... no way :(

[Jean-Claude Wippler]

Arnaud,

> > If you let me know which release of MacPython you use (an URL
> > perhaps),
> 
> 1.5.2c1

In that case, there must be another problem - it's what Mk4py.PPC.slb
was built for... here's what "Python IDE" tells me over here:

Python 1.5.2c1 (#56, Apr 12 1999, 14:19:52)  [CW PPC w/GUSI w/MSL]
Copyright 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam
>>> import Mk4py
>>> Mk4py.Storage()
<PyStorage object at 8e7bf50>
>>> 

> Do you have any clue about efficient search into a memory-mapped file?
> I'm afraid I'll be limited to some kind of hash tables ... and coding
> "yet another database system" bugs me ...

Or b-trees.  I also did some experiments with ternary search trees. 
Check out python/millions.py in the MK source distribution.

Hashing may or may not be a good option.  Efficiency is not just about
how much time it takes to access an item, it's also about locality of
reference (which hashing sort of deliberately messes up :) when you need
to access lots of items in quick succession.

-- Jean-Claude