tuples, index method, Python's design

[Chris Mellon]

On 4/12/07, Alan Isaac <aisaac at american.edu> wrote:
> Chris Mellon said:
> > Sure. I have never done this. In fact, I have only ever written code
> > that converted a tuple to a list once, and it was because I wanted
> > pop(), not index()
>
> Well then you apparently made a *mistake*: you chose a tuple when you
> wanted a mutable object.  That is really beside the point.
>

The tuple in question was function varargs. Yes, I wanted a mutable
object, thats why I made a list out of it. Whether varargs should be a
list or a tuple to begin with is
open to debate, but it's not likely you'd want to use index() on it either way.

> And you missed the point of my query.  It is not that existing code will
> contain such a conversion to get access to the index method.  It is that
> if you choose tuples to represent immutable sequences, sooner or later
> you will find you need to change your code to use a list not because you
> really want a mutable sequence but because you want the ``index`` method.
>

That may have been your point, but it's not what you said. I've never
converted a tuple to a list because I needed index(). I've never used
a list where a tuple would be "more natural" soley because I needed to
search it, either. I have never used index() in a situation where the
sequence in question wasn't both a) mutable and b) actually was
mutated in the course of program.

> Note that it has become clear that some people do not use tuples hardly
> ever, regardless whether their sequence is naturally mutable or
> immutable.  Why?  Because they want access the the list methods.
> **All** of these people fall in the category I am talking about.
> I do not really care if you reach mentally and then fix or actually type it.
> The avoidance of tuples, so carefully defended in other terms,
> is often rooted (I claim) in habits formed from need for list methods like
> ``index`` and ``count``.  Indeed, I predict that Python tuples
> will eventually have these methods and that these same people
> will then defend *that* status quo.
>

I use tuples all the time. There are more incidences of tuple usage
than list usage in my current codebase. My opinions on tuples still
stand. I use tuples when I already know what goes into them and in
what order. index() and count() are totally useless when you use
tuples (or, indeed, any sequence) in this manner.