loading values into nodes of a spline

I am looking to write some code that will allow the definition of a spline with X (up to 1000's) nodes. For each node I would like to be able to place it in x,y and z dimension. Additionally, as a next step I would like to have the z dimension to be animated.

I am looking for advice on any scripts I that would be useful to build off of for such a project, or if there is already something very similar? Also, is there any sort of memory issues I should be aware of if I want to place 1000's of nodes?

Thanks for any advice!