Why is creating a class in Python so much slower than instantiating a class?

Question

I found that creation of a class is way slower than instantiation of a class.

>>> from timeit import Timer as T
>>> def calc(n):
...     return         


        

Answer 1

Ahahaha! Gotcha!

Was this perchance done on a Python version without this patch? (HINT: IT WAS)

Check the line numbers if you want proof.

Marcin was right: when the results look screwy you've probably got a screwy benchmark. Run gc.disable() and the results reproduce themselves. It just shows that when you disable garbage collection you get garbage results!

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To be more clear, the reason running the long benchmark broke things is that:

• timeit disables garbage collections, so overly large benchmarks take much (exponentially) longer

• timeit wasn't restoring garbage collection on exceptions

• You quit the long-running process with an asynchronous exception, turning off garbage collection