from timeit import Timer import ConfigParser def foo(c): section = "Section" try: c.add_section(section) except: pass n = 3000 for i in range(n): c.set(section,"item#%d"%(i),str(i)) sum = 0 for i in range(n): sum += int(c.get(section,"item#%d"%(i))) return sum global c tests=10 c = ConfigParser.ConfigParser() print "ConfigParser", Timer('foo(c)', 'from __main__ import foo,c').timeit(number=tests) c = ConfigParser.RawConfigParser() print "RawConfigParser", Timer('foo(c)', 'from __main__ import foo,c').timeit(number=tests)