🧠 Module 11: Memory & Performance

Writing correct programs is step one. Writing programs that are fast enough and use memory efficiently is step two.

This module teaches the practical side of performance:

• how Python stores objects in memory,
• what “references” actually mean,
• how to reason about time/space complexity,
• and how to apply safe, measurable optimizations.

Estimated Time: 8-10 hours \ Prerequisites: Module 02 (Data Structures), Module 03 (Algorithms) \ Level: ⭐⭐⭐ Intermediate

---

📚 Topics Covered

#	Topic	Description	Key Concepts
01	Memory Basics	How Python represents objects	id(), mutability, GC, memoryview
02	References vs Values	Aliasing and copying	shallow vs deep copy, copy module
03	Time Complexity	Reason about runtime growth	linear vs quadratic, sets vs lists
04	Space Complexity	Reason about memory usage	in-place, recursion stack, generators
05	Big-O Notation	Analyze algorithms consistently	common Big-O classes, tradeoffs
06	Optimization Techniques	Make code faster safely	profiling, caching, built-ins

---

🎯 Learning Goals

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• Explain how Python uses object references and why “assignment doesn’t copy”.
• Predict how runtime changes when input size grows (Big-O).
• Choose data structures with appropriate performance characteristics.
• Identify “slow” patterns (nested loops, repeated work, unnecessary copies).
• Apply optimizations only after measuring.

---

📂 Module Structure

11_memory_performance/
├── README.md
├── 01_memory_basics/
│   ├── README.md
│   ├── examples.py
│   ├── exercises.py
│   └── quiz.md
├── 02_references_vs_values/
│   ├── README.md
│   ├── examples.py
│   ├── exercises.py
│   └── quiz.md
├── 03_time_complexity/
│   ├── README.md
│   ├── examples.py
│   ├── exercises.py
│   └── quiz.md
├── 04_space_complexity/
│   ├── README.md
│   ├── examples.py
│   ├── exercises.py
│   └── quiz.md
├── 05_big_o_notation/
│   ├── README.md
│   ├── examples.py
│   ├── exercises.py
│   └── quiz.md
└── 06_optimization_techniques/
    ├── README.md
    ├── examples.py
    ├── exercises.py
    └── quiz.md

---

Start here: 01_memory_basics