Is python very slow compared to C

[bearophileHUGS at lycos.com]

Yes this language is very slow, but frequently this isn't a problem,
because you are using fast functions/libraries written in C, or you are
doing I/O bound operations. And Psyco, numeric/numarray, ShedSkin can
help in some other cases (Pyrex and other solutions allow you to mix in
lower level languages). If you are looking for pure algorithmic speed
you probably have to go look for other languages, like C, C++, Ocaml,
typed Lisp code, etc.

Bye,
bearophile