Should I use "if" or "try" (as a matter of speed)?

[Roy Smith]

Thomas Lotze <thomas at thomas-lotze.de> wrote:
> Basically, I agree with the "make it run, make it right, make it fast"
> attitude. However, FWIW, I sometimes can't resist optimizing routines that
> probably don't strictly need it. Not only does the resulting code run
> faster, but it is usually also shorter and more readable and expressive.

Optimize for readability and maintainability first.  Worry about speed 
later.