This is slightly better, IMHO: http://www.python.org/doc/essays/list2str.html http://www.python.org/doc/essays/list2str.html Some best practices when optimizin

This is slightly better, IMHO: http://www.python.org/doc/essays/list2str.html http://www.python.org/doc/essays/list2str.html Some best practices when optimizing CPython code: * Re-evaluate your algorithm (an inefficient quicksort is still faster than an optimized bubblesort) * Use Python functions and constructs implemented in C (ex. most builtins, list comprehensions) * Move loops from outside functions to inside (function call overhead is high) * Use try/except to handle uncommon cases rather than using conditional checks in a loop. * Eliminate dots (attribute lookup) in tight loops (create a local alias if needed) See also: http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonSpeed/PerformanceTips http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonSpeed/PerformanceTips