in reply to Array vs. Hash for sparsely integer-indexed data

1. What (if any) storage inefficiency (relative to hashes) is created in perl when using arrays for sparsely indexed data?

It all depends on 'how sparse'": 

$a[ $_*2 ] = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;
$h{ $_*2 } = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;

print total_size( $_ ) for \( @a, %h );;
4497312
7393098

undef( @a ); undef( %h );;
$a[ $_*20 ] = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;
$h{ $_*20 } = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;

print total_size( $_ ) for \( @a, %h );;
19177376
7493098

undef( @a ); undef( %h );;
$a[ $_*50 ] = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;
$h{ $_*50 } = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;

print total_size( $_ ) for \( @a, %h );;
69509024
7526431

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The hash size remains static for a given number of entries, regardless of how sparse they are.

At 1 in 2, the array uses a little over half the space of the hash; but by 1 in 20, almost 3 times as much and by 1 in 50 nearly 10 times as much.

And remember, if your integer range starts at 1 billion; the array would require ~12GB (of basically wasted space), to hold the lowest value. Whilst you could wrap that over in an api to subtract 1 billion from each index, the additional subroutine call overhead would completely negate the array's lookup speed advantage; and then some.

2. What (if any) lookup inefficiency (relative to arrays) is created in perl when using hashes for positive integer indexed keys?

Test:

$a[ $_ * 20 ] = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;

$found = 0; say time; defined( $a[ $_ ] ) and ++$found for 1 .. 20e5; 
+say time; say $found;;
1359141040.60138
1359141041.00958
100000

$h{ $_ * 20 } = $_ for 1 .. 1e5;;

$found = 0; say time; exists( $h{ $_ } ) and ++$found for 1 .. 20e5; s
+ay time; say $found;;
1359141122.04252
1359141123.06596
100000

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The array takes 0.4 seconds to do 2 million lookups of which 5% are found and 95% not.

The hash takes 1.02 seconds to do the same lookups.

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

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Re^2: Array vs. Hash for sparsely integer-indexed data (bit vectors)
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jan 25, 2013 at 19:21 UTC

    Also worth considering: if your lookups are (or lend themselves to be adapted to) a simple boolean truth; vec can reduce the space requirement to a fraction of that used by either arrays or hashes and yields lookup time that also beat arrays: 

    $vec = ''; vec( $vec, $_*20, 1) =1 for 1 .. 1e5;;
print total_size \$vec;;
250056

$found = 0; say time; vec( $vec, $_, 1 ) and ++$found for 1 .. 20e5; s
+ay time; say $found;;
1359141761.02608
1359141761.35157
100000

    [download]
    With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
    Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
    "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
    In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
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