Organizing Sequential Data (TimeStamps) Overthinking?

[xkenneth]

All,

Just a quick question. I want to be able to have a data structure
that organizes data (timestamps I'm working with) sequentially, so
that i can easily retrieve the first x amount of timeStamps without
iterating over a list. My thought was to use a binary tree, am i
overthinking the problem to try and implement this structure inside of
python? I was also hoping this would already be done for me.

Regards,
Ken

 

[Paul Hankin]

Just a quick question. I want to be able to have a data structure
that organizes data (timestamps I'm working with) sequentially, so
that i can easily retrieve the first x amount of timeStamps without
iterating over a list. My thought was to use a binary tree, am i
overthinking the problem to try and implement this structure inside of
python? I was also hoping this would already be done for me.

If you're only iterating once, store your data in a list, and sort it
when you need to iterate. If you only want the n largest (or smallest)
timestamps - as suggested by your question - keep your data in a list,
and use heapq.nlargest (or heapq.nsmallest).

In fact, I'd try these even if you think you really need a binary
tree: it might be fast enough anyway.

 

[Larry Bates]

All,

Just a quick question. I want to be able to have a data structure
that organizes data (timestamps I'm working with) sequentially, so
that i can easily retrieve the first x amount of timeStamps without
iterating over a list. My thought was to use a binary tree, am i
overthinking the problem to try and implement this structure inside of
python? I was also hoping this would already be done for me.

Regards,
Ken

Sounds a little like premature optimization here. It depends on how many
timestamps you are talking about. Certainly if you have a lot (millions),
you should implement binary search, but I would write code first and if it is
too slow, fix that part.

-Larry

 

[Raymond Hettinger]

All,

Just a quick question. I want to be able to have a data structure
that organizes data (timestamps I'm working with) sequentially, so
that i can easily retrieve the first x amount of timeStamps without
iterating over a list. My thought was to use a binary tree, am i
overthinking the problem to try and implement this structure inside of
python? I was also hoping this would already be done for me.

Try heapq.nsmallest().


Raymond

 

[Raymond Hettinger]

All,

Just a quick question. I want to be able to have a data structure
that organizes data (timestamps I'm working with) sequentially, so
that i can easily retrieve the first x amount of timeStamps without
iterating over a list. My thought was to use a binary tree, am i
overthinking the problem to try and implement this structure inside of
python? I was also hoping this would already be done for me.

Try heapq.nsmallest().


Raymond

 

[Raymond Hettinger]

All,

Just a quick question. I want to be able to have a data structure
that organizes data (timestamps I'm working with) sequentially, so
that i can easily retrieve the first x amount of timeStamps without
iterating over a list. My thought was to use a binary tree, am i
overthinking the problem to try and implement this structure inside of
python? I was also hoping this would already be done for me.

Try heapq.nsmallest().


Raymond

 

[Gabriel Genellina]

Try heapq.nsmallest().

Try heapq.nsmallest().

Try heapq.nsmallest().

“Just the place for a Snark!†the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.
“Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.â€

THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
an Agony in Eight Fits
by Lewis Carroll