python - Why should I use operator.itemgetter(x) instead of [x]?

Question

There is a more general question here: In what situation should the built-in operator module be used in python?

The top answer claims that operator.itemgetter(x) is "neater" than, presumably, than lambda a: a[x]. I feel the opposite is true.

Are there any other benefits, like performance?

Answer 1

You shouldn't worry about performance unless your code is in a tight inner loop, and is actually a performance problem. Instead, use code that best expresses your intent. Some people like lambdas, some like itemgetter. Sometimes it's just a matter of taste.

itemgetter is more powerful, for example, if you need to get a number of elements at once. For example:

operator.itemgetter(1,3,5)

is the same as:

lambda s: (s[1], s[3], s[5])