optimization

[Robert Kern]

Neal Becker wrote:
> Arnaud Delobelle wrote:
> 
>> Neal Becker <ndbecker2 at gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> I noticed in some profiling, that it seems that:
>>>
>>> def Func ():
>>>   def something():
>>>     ...
>>>
>>> It appears that if Func is called many times, this nested func
>>> definition will cause significant overhead.  Is this true?  I guess
>>> I've become accustomed to decent compilers performing reasonable
>>> transformations and so have tended to write code for clarity.
>> If something() can be defined outside Func(), how is it clearer to
>> define it inside?
> 
> If it's only used inside.

I, for one, find that significantly less clear. I only expect functions to be 
defined inside of functions if they are going to use lexical scoping for some 
reason. If I read your code, I'd probably waste a good five minutes trying to 
figure out what part of the local scope you were using before I would conclude 
that you just did it because you thought it looked better.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco