translate is a simple, efficient function for doing fast byte-by-byte replacement on a string in Python.
However, Python Does What is always on the lookout for dangerous alternatives to simple things. Instead of a function call, isn't it better to mutate global interpreter state so that the same result is achieved as a side-effect of a completely different operation? (The answer is yes.)
>>> import ctypes
>>> def maketrans(inp, outp):
... inp = list(inp)
... outp = list(outp)
... for aa, bb in zip(inp, outp): # there's a fun reason single letter variable names are a bad idea here
... ctypes.memset(ctypes.pythonapi.PyString_AsString(id(aa)), ord(bb), 1)
...
>>> maketrans("jkl", "xyz")
>>> "".join("jkl")
'xyz'
This method also has application to single character variable names that bears further exploration.
fun reason?
ReplyDeleteThis method changes ALL single character strings in the interpreter. Including variable names.
DeleteYou can try it, leads to spectacular crashes.