Self reordering list in Python

[Kay Schluehr]

Laszlo Zsolt Nagy wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Do you know how to implement a really efficient self reordering list in
> Python? (List with a maximum length. When an item is processed, it
> becomes the first element in the list.) I would like to use this for
> caching of rendered images.

I wonder why you don't use a dictionary? The only time I used a
move-front algorithm I stored algorithms and had to evaluate a
condition to select the correct algo. That means no constant search key
was available for accessing the correct one. In case of an image list I
would implement a self-ordering list if I have to do some pattern
recognition in order to select the correct image. Holding a reference
as a search key a Python hash-table will always have a better average
time complexity no matter which language is used to implement
move-front. In either way I'd use Python as an implementation language.


Kay