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Python Performance

aaron_watters at my-deja.com aaron_watters at my-deja.com
Mon Jul 26 11:07:17 EDT 1999 
In article <al86737ocwo.fsf at sirppi.helsinki.fi>,
  Markus Stenberg <mstenber at cc.Helsinki.FI> wrote:

> None of them touch my primary speed problem; the function/method
> invocation 'speed'; C++ function/method invocation seems 200+ times as
fast
> as Python's, and it really limits the proper OO nature of things,
> especially while using apply (another 4x slowdown). Deep class
hierarchies
> seem no-go, as do several other things.

This is absolutely valid.  Perhaps it is a perversion of some
kind but I simply don't use deep hierarchies, &c.  I find them
confusing too often anyway.

Another perversion
is the use of aggregate data types -- instead of wrapping an
abstraction around a number, wrap an abstraction over a sequence
or matrix of numbers, to allow aggregate operations at the lowest
level.  Sometimes I find that this sort of
perversion actually helps bring
out deep structure in the program.  Please see Python FAQ 4.7.

I think the "object oriented" approach is of fundamental importance,
but it can be overdone.  Sometimes there are other ways to think
about a problem which are also useful.

    -- Aaron Watters

===

We lose money on every unit, but make it up in volume.
   -- AT&T folklore


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