realtime design

[Aahz]

In article <mailman.1034545938.26805.python-list at python.org>,
Richard Jones  <rjones at ekit-inc.com> wrote:
>
>What do you mean by variable timing? If you avoid circular references,
>CPython (the C version, not the Java version) has deterministic memory
>handling.

That's true, but only partly.  Thing is, normally one programs Python
with the assumption that checking memory sizes and such doesn't really
matter.  But freeing a large dict, particularly one that contains
complex objects, can have serious consequences for timing.  Defensively
programming against that isn't normal Python style, and in the absence
of such defensive programming, I'd say that Python isn't really
deterministic.
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

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