[ferdterguson]

> Python in some cases can be 100x slower than C

Yeah, the Python implemented version is. But people doing serious computing in Python that requires speed are doing it with NumPy or even Cython or just straight up calling C/Fortran libraries in Python.

[fourthark]

It's the same in R - you can have good performance of you use vectorized routines, because those routines are written in C/C++/Fortran.