[maxerickson]

The CPython interpreter is pretty naive, so it more or less does what you tell it to.

[bite_victim]

PHP is no better, if you add an intval call it will add almost 4 seconds to the result! This is an extraordinary proof that being a little sloppy can cost you a lot when using interpreted scripting languages!

Also, I am thinking if and how much speed gain could one inject by not using OOP in PHP...