DEC pack, unpack and disk-images

[Gribouillis]

Is the "table" variable in Gribouillis's code rebuilt every use (through prepare_table()) or is a "static" variable or does python have some sort of smart pseudo-static assignment?

the function prepare_table() is only called once when the statement

table = prepare_table()

is executed. This takes 39 microseconds on my computer.

You could go faster by assigning directly the result in the code

table = b'\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x00\x7f\x7f\x7f\x1c\x1d\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x1b\x7f\x1e\x1f !"#$%&\'\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\t\n\x0b\x0c\r\x0e\x0f\x10\x11\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17\x18\x19\x1a\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\t\n\x0b\x0c\r\x0e\x0f\x10\x11\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17\x18\x19\x1a\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f\x7f'

The 'table' variable has a 256 bytes string value.

'table' is a global variable in this code. Global variables are stored in a global dictionary. You can consider them static variables.