I honestly have no idea. Given that there are different versions of awk and different versions of python, I'm not even sure there is an answer. Given awk's age

I honestly have no idea. Given that there are different versions of awk and different versions of python, I'm not even sure there is an answer. Given awk's age (1977-when computers were much slower and memory much more expensive) and pedigree (Aho, Weinberger, and Kernighan), I wouldn't bet against it for a task like you describe, but that's just a feeling. Again, I don't have any numbers to support that.