IntSet: O(1) maximum/minimum/issorted

[rfourquet]

Previously, those methods were O(length).
Also slightly faster first: probably because of non-inlined throw?

[KristofferC]

What does this mean for a Set?

[rfourquet]

Like for generic iterators: if the values yielded by iteration are sorted.

[KristofferC]

Okay, the documentation specifically says that it checks if a vector is sorted. Should that be loosened?

[rfourquet]

Good catch! yes I would say it should be loosened, as long as the method is defined for generic iterators (which makes sense for me).

[KristofferC]

Is the order a set is iterated in even defined i. e does the order have to be the same every time even if the set is unchanged? Defining issorted for something unordered feels a bit iffy and perhaps mixes implementation with public API.

[rfourquet]

Is the order a set is iterated in even defined

I guess yes for Set, but for IntSet it's always in sorted order, and I believe it will stay this way. I don't know whether it's documented though. This added method here is only an optimization.

[JeffBezanson]

Same as the situation for Dict, SortedDict, and OrderedDict. Some sets might be sorted, others not.

[KristofferC]

Yes but is the order that Sets and IntSets are iterated guaranteed to stay fixed? Otherwise being sorted is not a property of the object. For the other structures you mentioned, there is clearly a well defined iteration order so issorted makes sense.

[tkelman]

are any of these tested?

[rfourquet]

For IntSet, the iteration order is guaranteed to stay fixed; if the implementation changes, then the issorted method will have to be updated accordingly.

[JeffBezanson]

first and last aren't O(1) AFAICT, but this is an improvement nonetheless.

[rfourquet]

first and last aren't O(1) AFAICT, but this is an improvement nonetheless.

I wondered if someone would note that ;-) As IntSet is "designed for dense integer sets", what I meant is "O(1) when the density is fixed".