Why Developers Still Choose Python, Even If It’s “Slow”

If raw execution speed was the only metric that mattered, Python wouldn’t stand a chance against compiled languages like C, Clang, or Rust. Benchmarks don’t lie: a billion nested loop iterations might take 0.50 seconds in C or Rust, while Python—interpreted, dynamically typed, memory-managed—might stretch that into many, many more. And yet, Python continues to dominate in data science, machine learning, backend development, automation, and beyond.

So why does a “slow” language keep winning hearts (and GitHub stars) year after year?

Execution Speed vs. Development Speed

Performance is not only measured in CPU cycles—it’s also measured in time-to-solution. Your code could execute in 0.5 seconds, but if it takes you three days to write and debug, you might lose more productivity than you gain from runtime speed.

Python’s design choices—dynamic typing, concise syntax, a batteries-included standard library—slash development time dramatically. Complex prototypes often emerge in hours or days rather than weeks.

Readability Is a Feature, Not an Afterthought

Seasoned developers appreciate Python’s almost pseudocode-like readability. Beginners find it approachable. The same property makes maintaining Python code years later far less painful, especially in large, distributed teams.

Readable code also compounds value: it’s easier to onboard new teammates, refactor confidently, and adapt rapidly when requirements change.

Ecosystem: Standing on Giant Shoulders

Python’s speed is less about bare-metal execution and more about leveraging fast, optimized code written elsewhere. Libraries like NumPy and Pandas are implemented in C and make heavy use of vectorized operations—so you can still crunch serious numbers without writing a single for-loop. Frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and FastAPI blend Python’s developer-friendly interface with highly optimized native backends.

In short: Python is slow only when you force it to do low-level work itself.

Developer Mindshare and Versatility

Python’s syntax and ecosystem make it equally popular among data analysts, DevOps engineers, backend developers, and scientists. The language becomes the “common tongue” for cross-disciplinary work. That versatility is a compelling reason to choose Python, even when performance-sensitive pieces are delegated to faster languages.

Hybrid Architectures

For performance-critical paths (say, the “billion nested loop” scenario), Python isn’t left helpless. Techniques like:

• Cython or PyPy for JIT-like enhancements
• Writing tight loops in C/C++/Rust and exposing them as Python modules
• Vectorizing workloads via NumPy or GPU libraries

…allow teams to keep Python as the high-level “orchestrator” while still pulling in raw speed underneath.

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The Verdict: Slow… Like a Chess Master

If we judge Python by loop benchmarks alone, it’s a tortoise. But software development is a rich ecosystem of trade-offs. In practice, Python lets you move faster in the ways that matter most: idea-to-working-product time, collaborative readability, vast ecosystem, and the ability to glue together best-in-class technologies.

It’s not the language you choose to win a benchmark race—it’s the one you choose to win at problem-solving.

Comments

[Prema Ananda]

Great article, but the author missed an important point: in real applications, the bottleneck is usually database queries (50-200ms) and API calls (100-500ms), not code execution speed.
When a typical web request spends 80% of its time on external dependencies, the difference between Python and faster languages becomes statistical noise. Python is "slow" only in synthetic benchmarks, but in production its speed is perfectly adequate for most business tasks.

[Vadym]

Agree, it has a massive ecosystem (AI/ML, data, web, scripting), clean syntax, and a huge community. If performance becomes an issue, you can drop into C/C++, Rust, or use optimized libraries like NumPy that already run at native speed.

So even though raw Python is slower than, say, C++, the developer productivity and ecosystem usually outweigh that trade-off. And that’s why we keep choosing it.

[ALI]

Well said! Python’s “speed” has always been in how quickly you can go from idea to working solution. With the right libraries and hybrid approaches, it’s more like a strategic conductor than a slow runner.

[Basil working @ Sinrorobotics]

Python is more efficient programming language and is much more easier to understand than other programming languages. Is a programming language even picked by AI.