Compare (Unicode) strings was optimized after the release of Python 3.3.

changeset:   79469:54154be6b27d
user:        Victor Stinner <victor.stinner@gmail.com>
date:        Thu Oct 04 22:59:45 2012 +0200
files:       Objects/unicodeobject.c
description:
Optimize unicode_compare(): use memcmp() when comparing two UCS1 strings

changeset:   79902:b68be1025c42
user:        Victor Stinner <victor.stinner@gmail.com>
date:        Tue Oct 23 02:48:49 2012 +0200
files:       Objects/unicodeobject.c
description:
Optimize PyUnicode_RichCompare() for Py_EQ and Py_NE: always use memcmp()

---

It looks like Python 3.4 is faster than 3.2 for this specific micro-benchmark on my computer. So I'm closing the issue.

If you see an interesting optimization, please write a patch and open an issue. But complaining that PEP 393 slowed down Unicode does not help at all. PEP 393 solved a lot of other issues!


3.2.3+ (3.2:d40afd489b6a, Apr  2 2013, 23:46:20) 
[GCC 4.7.2 20121109 (Red Hat 4.7.2-8)]
a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/b','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/z']176
[0.38440799713134766, 0.38411498069763184, 0.38804006576538086]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/λ','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/η']176
[0.3850290775299072, 0.38683581352233887, 0.3845059871673584]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/b','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/η']176
[0.38274407386779785, 0.3805210590362549, 0.38046717643737793]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/𠀀','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/𠀁']180
[0.3880500793457031, 0.38711094856262207, 0.3869481086730957]



3.3.0+ (3.3:c78dfc6ce37a, Apr  2 2013, 23:48:14) 
[GCC 4.7.2 20121109 (Red Hat 4.7.2-8)]
a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/b','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/z']108
[0.4134676969842985, 0.4146421169862151, 0.41625474498141557]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/λ','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/η']192
[0.42760137701407075, 0.42286567797418684, 0.42544596805237234]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/b','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/η']192
[0.4288683719933033, 0.4251258020522073, 0.4281281529692933]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/𠀀','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/𠀁']312
[0.40928812394849956, 0.4099267750279978, 0.4107871470041573]



3.4.0a0 (default:9328e2b8a397, Apr  2 2013, 23:46:24) 
[GCC 4.7.2 20121109 (Red Hat 4.7.2-8)]
a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/b','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/z']108
[0.31218199292197824, 0.30999370804056525, 0.31113169400487095]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/λ','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/η']192
[0.3712720649782568, 0.37407689797692, 0.3728883999865502]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/b','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/η']192
[0.36971510702278465, 0.3688076320104301, 0.36580446804873645]

a=['C:/Users/Neil/Documents/𠀀','C:/Users/Neil/Documents/𠀁']312
[0.3653324950719252, 0.3652214870089665, 0.36527683096937835]