need help defining Constant memory requirement

[Jani Yusef]

Heiko Wundram <heikowu at ceosg.de> wrote in message news:<mailman.3507.1095603871.5135.python-list at python.org>...
> Am Sonntag, 19. September 2004 07:00 schrieben Sie:
> > I am sure the solution is O(n) since the list must
> > only iterated once and the dictionary is O(1), correct?
> > Thanks for the help!!
> 
> In case you haven't found a solution yet, think about the properties of the 
> sum of the numbers of the sequence which is n*(n-1)/2 + x with 0 < x < n, 
> where finding out why this equation holds and what x is is up to you.
> 
> (n being defined as in your example, a sequence having n elements with the 
> elements in 1..n-1 and only one repeated)
> 
> Heiko.

Got it!! Thanks for your help.
Here is my revised and working code
            i=[1,2,3,4,5,6,3]
            s0=len(i)*(len(i)+1)/2 
            s1=0
            for a in i:
                sum1+=a 
            return (sum1-sum0)%len(i)
I think my main malfunction was with thinking that this was mor
ecomplex tna it was. By refocusing on the simple problem statement as
suggested the solution came easier. Thanks again.