Why Loops Are Slow for Math
The cost of per-element Python loops.
The Loop Habit
Coming from plain Python, you reach for a for loop to add two lists number by number. It works, but for math at scale it is the slow path. 🐢
Python Pays a Tax
Every loop step in Python carries interpreter overhead: type checks, object boxing, and bytecode dispatch happen again and again for each element.
All lessons in this course
- Why Loops Are Slow for Math
- Elementwise Ops & Reductions
- Matrix Multiply with matmul and @
- Dot Products Power Every Layer