Python is slow?

[bearophileHUGS at lycos.com]

sturlamolden:

CPython is generally slow (you can see this from the huge amount of
solutions invented to solve the speed problem, like Cython, Numpy,
Psyco, ShedSkin, Weave, Inline, SIP, Boost Python, SWIG, etc etc), but
for most of the usages Python is used for, it's not a significant
problem. I know that sounds like a tautology :-)

Well written C++ code is generally faster or much faster than similar
Python code, but programming in Python is often simpler, and it
generally requires less time. So it may happen that to solve a problem
a Python program that runs in 1 hour that requires 1 hour to be
written allows you to find the solution in less time than a C++
program that runs in 5-10 minutes that requires you 3-4 hours to be
written :-)

Note that C++ is just one option, but there are other languages
around, like CLisp or D (or even a modern JavaVM), that are often an
acceptable compromise between Python and C/C++.

So you can show us a reduced/minimal working version of your Python
code, so I/someone may find ways to speed it up, translate it to C or C
++ or CLisp or D, etc.

Note that I have written a kd-tree in both Python (with Psyco
compulsively) and D, this is the Psyco version:
http://code.activestate.com/recipes/572156/

Bye,
bearophile