High Performance Python

Preface

Python is easy to learn. You’re probably here because now that your code runs correctly, you need it to run faster. You like the fact that your code is easy to modify and you can iterate with ideas quickly. The trade-off between easy to develop and runs as quickly as I need is a well-understood and often-bemoaned phenomenon. There are solutions.

Some people have serial processes that have to run faster. Others have problems that could take advantage of multicore architectures, clusters, or graphics processing units. Some need scalable systems that can process more or less as expediency and funds allow, without losing reliability. Others will realize that their coding techniques, often borrowed from other languages, perhaps aren’t as natural as examples they see from others.

In this book we will cover all of these topics, giving practical guidance for understanding bottlenecks and producing faster and more scalable solutions. We also include some war stories from those who went ahead of you, who took the knocks so you don’t have to.

Python is well suited for rapid development, production deployments, and scalable systems. The ecosystem is full of people who are working to make it scale on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on the more challenging tasks around you.

Who This Book Is For

You’ve used Python for long enough to have an idea about why certain things are slow and to have seen technologies like Cython, numpy, and PyPy being discussed as possible solutions. You ...