Efficient way to rotate a list in python

Question

What is the most efficient way to rotate a list in python? Right now I have something like this:

>>> def rotate(l, n):
...     return l[n:] + l[:n]         


        

Answer 1

I take this cost model as a reference:

http://scripts.mit.edu/~6.006/fall07/wiki/index.php?title=Python_Cost_Model

Your method of slicing the list and concatenating two sub-lists are linear-time operations. I would suggest using pop, which is a constant-time operation, e.g.:

def shift(list, n):
    for i in range(n)
        temp = list.pop()
        list.insert(0, temp)