What’s on the Python Data Structures poster
A 7-row table: Structure · Lookup · Use when.
Average-case cost of the common operations.
- list — O(n) by value — Order matters, you append
- tuple — O(n) — Fixed record, hashable
- dict — O(1) by key — Mapping keys to values
- set — O(1) membership — Uniqueness, fast 'in'
- deque — O(1) both ends — Queue or sliding window
- heapq — O(log n) push/pop — Priority queue
- Counter — O(1) — Counting occurrences
`x in a_list` scans the whole list. `x in a_set` is a single hash lookup. In a loop that is the difference between O(n²) and O(n).
Questions about the Python Data Structures poster
- What’s on the Python Data Structures poster?
- A 7-row table: Structure · Lookup · Use when. Average-case cost of the common operations. list — O(n) by value — Order matters, you append; tuple — O(n) — Fixed record, hashable; dict — O(1) by key — Mapping keys to values; set — O(1) membership — Uniqueness, fast 'in'; deque — O(1) both ends — Queue or sliding window; heapq — O(log n) push/pop — Priority queue; Counter — O(1) — Counting occurrences. `x in a_list` scans the whole list. `x in a_set` is a single hash lookup. In a loop that is the difference between O(n²) and O(n).
- Who is the Python Data Structures poster for?
- Python Data Structures belongs to the Computing section rather than to a school year, because computing is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning languages can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Python Data Structures poster?
- If you are checking membership in a loop, you want a set, not a list. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Python Data Structures belongs on the wall where that computing work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Python Data Structures?
- REST API Design, Bash Scripting and Error Handling sit alongside Python Data Structures in the Computing section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.REST API DesignBash ScriptingError Handling
- Is the Python Data Structures poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Python Data Structures downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Computing section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Python Data Structures poster print at?
- Python Data Structures is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Python Data Structures loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Python Data Structures on the same wall.
Browse every Computing poster, or start from the full catalogue.