lru-dict · Python Simple Repository Browser

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Author: Amit Dev

Requires Python: >=3.9

Classifiers

Development Status

5 - Production/Stable

Intended Audience

Developers

Operating System

OS Independent
POSIX

Programming Language

C
Python :: 3
Python :: 3.9
Python :: 3.10
Python :: 3.11
Python :: 3.12
Python :: 3.13
Python :: 3.14
Python :: Implementation :: CPython

Topic

Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules

Note: This project is stable and production ready, but looking for a lead maintainer. Preferably someone who uses this library and made contributions to it.

LRU Dict

A fixed size dict like container which evicts Least Recently Used (LRU) items once size limit is exceeded. There are many python implementations available which does similar things. This is a fast and efficient C implementation. LRU maximum capacity can be modified at run-time. If you are looking for pure python version, look else where.

Usage

This can be used to build a LRU cache. Usage is almost like a dict.

from lru import LRU
l = LRU(5)         # Create an LRU container that can hold 5 items

print l.peek_first_item(), l.peek_last_item()  #return the MRU key and LRU key
# Would print None None

for i in range(5):
   l[i] = str(i)
print l.items()    # Prints items in MRU order
# Would print [(4, '4'), (3, '3'), (2, '2'), (1, '1'), (0, '0')]

print l.peek_first_item(), l.peek_last_item()  #return the MRU key and LRU key
# Would print (4, '4') (0, '0')

l[5] = '5'         # Inserting one more item should evict the old item
print l.items()
# Would print [(5, '5'), (4, '4'), (3, '3'), (2, '2'), (1, '1')]

l[3]               # Accessing an item would make it MRU
print l.items()
# Would print [(3, '3'), (5, '5'), (4, '4'), (2, '2'), (1, '1')]
# Now 3 is in front

l.keys()           # Can get keys alone in MRU order
# Would print [3, 5, 4, 2, 1]

del l[4]           # Delete an item
print l.items()
# Would print [(3, '3'), (5, '5'), (2, '2'), (1, '1')]

print l.get_size()
# Would print 5

l.set_size(3)
print l.items()
# Would print [(3, '3'), (5, '5'), (2, '2')]
print l.get_size()
# Would print 3
print l.has_key(5)
# Would print True
print 2 in l
# Would print True

l.get_stats()
# Would print (1, 0)


l.update(5='0')           # Update an item
print l.items()
# Would print [(5, '0'), (3, '3'), (2, '2')]

l.clear()
print l.items()
# Would print []

def evicted(key, value):
  print "removing: %s, %s" % (key, value)

l = LRU(1, callback=evicted)

l[1] = '1'
l[2] = '2'
# callback would print removing: 1, 1

l[2] = '3'
# doesn't call the evicted callback

print l.items()
# would print [(2, '3')]

del l[2]
# doesn't call the evicted callback

print l.items()
# would print []

Install

pip install lru-dict

easy_install lru_dict

When to use this

Like mentioned above there are many python implementations of an LRU. Use this if you need a faster and memory efficient alternative. It is implemented with a dict and associated linked list to keep track of LRU order. See code for a more detailed explanation. To see an indicative comparison with a pure python module, consider a benchmark against pylru (just chosen at random, it should be similar with other python implementations as well).

$ python bench.py pylru.lrucache
Time : 3.31 s, Memory : 453672 Kb
$ python bench.py lru.LRU
Time : 0.23 s, Memory : 124328 Kb

Wheel compatibility matrix

Platform	CPython 3.9	CPython 3.10	CPython 3.11	CPython 3.12	CPython 3.13	CPython 3.14	CPython (additional flags: t) 3.14	PyPy 3.10 (pp73)	PyPy 3.11 (pp73)
android_21_arm64_v8a
android_21_x86_64
ios_13_0_arm64_iphoneos
ios_13_0_arm64_iphonesimulator
ios_13_0_x86_64_iphonesimulator
macosx_10_13_universal2
macosx_10_13_x86_64
macosx_10_15_x86_64
macosx_10_9_universal2
macosx_10_9_x86_64
macosx_11_0_arm64
manylinux1_x86_64
manylinux2014_aarch64
manylinux2014_ppc64le
manylinux_2_17_aarch64
manylinux_2_17_ppc64le
manylinux_2_28_aarch64
manylinux_2_28_ppc64le
manylinux_2_28_x86_64
manylinux_2_5_x86_64
musllinux_1_2_aarch64
musllinux_1_2_ppc64le
musllinux_1_2_x86_64
win32
win_amd64