Slices time complexity

[Marko Rauhamaa]

Rustom Mody <rustompmody at gmail.com>:

> On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 12:16:49 PM UTC+5:30, Marko Rauhamaa wrote:
>> Rustom Mody :
>> 
>> > In short any language that is implemented on von Neumann hw will
>> > need to address memory.
>> 
>> I don't think von Neumann hardware plays a role here. I think the
>> data model is inherent in Python/Java/Lisp regardless of the
>> underlying formalism (which could be SKI combinatory calculus or any
>> other Turing-complete formalism).
>
> That's backwards
>
> Python/C/Java/Lisp/Fortran (and 700 more) are made the way they are
> out of aiming for some fidelity with von Neumann architecture

Funny enough, von Neumann is summoned even by the Python Language Spec:

   Objects are Python’s abstraction for data. All data in a Python
   program is represented by objects or by relations between objects.
   (In a sense, and in conformance to Von Neumann’s model of a “stored
   program computer,” code is also represented by objects.)

   <URL: https://docs.python.org/3/reference/datamodel.html>

As can be expected, the specification fails to define an object and
resorts to handwaving. However, there's a nod to pointer semantics:

   Every object has an identity, a type and a value. An object’s
   identity never changes once it has been created; you may think of it
   as the object’s address in memory. The ‘is‘ operator compares the
   identity of two objects; the id() function returns an integer
   representing its identity.


Marko