Using more sophisticated collections

Python has a wide variety of built-in collections. In Chapter 4, Built-In Data Structures Part 1: Lists and Sets, we looked at them closely. In the Choosing a data structure recipe, we provided a kind of decision tree to help locate the appropriate data structure from the available choices.

When we consider built-ins and other data structures in the standard library, we have more choices, and more decisions to make. How can we choose the right data structure for our problem?

Getting ready

Before we put data into a collection, we'll need to consider how we'll gather the data, and what we'll do with the collection once we have it. The big question is always how we'll identify a particular item within the collection. We'll look at a few key questions that we need to answer to help select a proper collection for our needs.

Here's an overview of some of the alternative collections. The collections module...