in reply to Re: Managing Client Specific Hashes
in thread Managing Client Specific Hashes

In my mind its bad to have arrays with 'willy-nilly' indexes... such as:index 9 is valid.. index 31 is valid... but 10 through 30 are not...this is bad practice correct? and yes they are always sorted when I use them. I would be sorting the array by index and not value... I'm not understanding why you think an array is a viable option... please explain that.. I would like to understand.

Grygonos
  • Comment on Re: Re: Managing Client Specific Hashes

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Re: Managing Client Specific Hashes
by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Jan 13, 2004 at 15:56 UTC
    I would be sorting the array by index and not value... I'm not understanding why you think an array is a viable option... please explain that.. I would like to understand.
    So, you are sorting the array (I think you mean the list of keys here), but you don't think an array is a viable option? Storing the data in a sorted array instead of storing them in a hash, and sorting it before usage, eliminates a step.

    Abigail

[reply]
      but the key is important data as well... the key is where the data field begins... and that hashes to how long the field is... can you present a sample array that does what you propose? Thanks if you have time.
      Grygonos
[reply]
        my @a = ([  1,  8],
         [  9, 11],
         [ 20,  2],
         [ 22,  9],
         [ 31,  7],
         [ 38,  8],
         [ 46,  8],
         [ 54,  8],
         [ 62, 30],
         [ 92, 12],
         [104, 30]);

        [download]
        Or if your array is large, and you want to save memory: 
        my @b = (
    [1,  9, 20, 22, 31, 38, 46, 54, 62, 92, 104],
    [8, 11,  2,  8,  7,  8,  8,  8, 30, 12,  30]
);

        [download]
        But if you look carefully, the "keys" aren't necessary at all - if all you do is process the data in order, the keys can be calculated from the values, and all you need to keep is: 
        my @c = (8, 11,  2,  8,  7,  8,  8,  8, 30, 12,  30);

        [download]

        Abigail

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