Memory pre-allocation for large lists

[Paul Prescod]

Aahz wrote:
> ... 
> Can, yes.  But why?  Python uses an allocation mechanism for lists that
> results in constant amortized time; there's really no reason to
> pre-allocate.

What if you just want to use index assignment without worrying about 
indexing past the part of the list that hasn't been allocated yet?

Nevertheless, your question is legitimate. You seldom have to 
pre-allocate lists in Python.

  Paul Prescod