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Profile and optimize Python code using cProfile, memory profilers, and performance best practices. Use when debugging slow Python code, optimizing bottlenecks,…
Python Performance Optimization
Comprehensive guide to profiling, analyzing, and optimizing Python code for better performance, including CPU profiling, memory optimization, and implementation best practices.
When to Use This Skill
Identifying performance bottlenecks in Python applications
Reducing application latency and response times
Optimizing CPU-intensive operations
Reducing memory consumption and memory leaks
Improving database query performance
Optimizing I/O operations
Speeding up data processing pipelines
Implementing high-performance algorithms
Profiling production applications
Core Concepts
1. Profiling Types
CPU Profiling: Identify time-consuming functions
Memory Profiling: Track memory allocation and leaks
Line Profiling: Profile at line-by-line granularity
Call Graph: Visualize function call relationships
2. Performance Metrics
Execution Time: How long operations take
Memory Usage: Peak and average memory consumption
CPU Utilization: Processor usage patterns
I/O Wait: Time spent on I/O operations
3. Optimization Strategies
Algorithmic: Better algorithms and data structures
Implementation: More efficient code patterns
Parallelization: Multi-threading/processing
Caching: Avoid redundant computation
Native Extensions: C/Rust for critical paths
Quick Start
Basic Timing
import time
def measure_time():
"""Simple timing measurement."""
start = time.time()
# Your code here
result = sum(range(1000000))
elapsed = time.time() - start
print(f"Execution time: {elapsed:.4f} seconds")
return result
# Better: use timeit for accurate measurements
import timeit
execution_time = timeit.timeit(
"sum(range(1000000))",
number=100
)
print(f"Average time: {execution_time/100:.6f} seconds")
Profiling Tools
Pattern 1: cProfile - CPU Profiling
import cProfile
import pstats
from pstats import SortKey
def slow_function():
"""Function to profile."""
total = 0
for i in range(1000000):
total += i
return total
def another_function():
"""Another function."""
return [i**2 for i in range(100000)]
def main():
"""Main function to profile."""
result1 = slow_function()
result2 = another_function()
return result1, result2
# Profile the code
if __name__ == "__main__":
profiler = cProfile.Profile()
profiler.enable()
main()
profiler.disable()
# Print stats
stats = pstats.Stats(profiler)
stats.sort_stats(SortKey.CUMULATIVE)
stats.print_stats(10) # Top 10 functions
# Save to file for later analysis
stats.dump_stats("profile_output.prof")
Command-line profiling:
# Profile a script
python -m cProfile -o output.prof script.py
# View results
python -m pstats output.prof
# In pstats:
# sort cumtime
# stats 10
Pattern 2: line_profiler - Line-by-Line Profiling
# Install: pip install line-profiler
# Add @profile decorator (line_profiler provides this)
@profile
def process_data(data):
"""Process data with line profiling."""
result = []
for item in data:
processed = item * 2
result.append(processed)
return result
# Run with:
# kernprof -l -v script.py
Manual line profiling:
from line_profiler import LineProfiler
def process_data(data):
"""Function to profile."""
result = []
for item in data:
processed = item * 2
result.append(processed)
return result
if __name__ == "__main__":
lp = LineProfiler()
lp.add_function(process_data)
data = list(range(100000))
lp_wrapper = lp(process_data)
lp_wrapper(data)
lp.print_stats()
Pattern 3: memory_profiler - Memory Usage
# Install: pip install memory-profiler
from memory_profiler import profile
@profile
def memory_intensive():
"""Function that uses lots of memory."""
# Create large list
big_list = [i for i in range(1000000)]
# Create large dict
big_dict = {i: i**2 for i in range(100000)}
# Process data
result = sum(big_list)
return result
if __name__ == "__main__":
memory_intensive()
# Run with:
# python -m memory_profiler script.py
Pattern 4: py-spy - Production Profiling
# Install: pip install py-spy
# Profile a running Python process
py-spy top --pid 12345
# Generate flamegraph
py-spy record -o profile.svg --pid 12345
# Profile a script
py-spy record -o profile.svg -- python script.py
# Dump current call stack
py-spy dump --pid 12345
Optimization Patterns
Pattern 5: List Comprehensions vs Loops
import timeit
# Slow: Traditional loop
def slow_squares(n):
"""Create list of squares using loop."""
result = []
for i in range(n):
result.append(i**2)
return result
# Fast: List comprehension
def fast_squares(n):
"""Create list of squares using comprehension."""
return [i**2 for i in range(n)]
# Benchmark
n = 100000
slow_time = timeit.timeit(lambda: slow_squares(n), number=100)
fast_time = timeit.timeit(lambda: fast_squares(n), number=100)
print(f"Loop: {slow_time:.4f}s")
print(f"Comprehension: {fast_time:.4f}s")
print(f"Speedup: {slow_time/fast_time:.2f}x")
# Even faster for simple operations: map
def faster_squares(n):
"""Use map for even better performance."""
return list(map(lambda x: x**2, range(n)))
Pattern 6: Generator Expressions for Memory
import sys
def list_approach():
"""Memory-intensive list."""
data = [i**2 for i in range(1000000)]
return sum(data)
def generator_approach():
"""Memory-efficient generator."""
data = (i**2 for i in range(1000000))
return sum(data)
# Memory comparison
list_data = [i for i in range(1000000)]
gen_data = (i for i in range(1000000))
print(f"List size: {sys.getsizeof(list_data)} bytes")
print(f"Generator size: {sys.getsizeof(gen_data)} bytes")
# Generators use constant memory regardless of size
Pattern 7: String Concatenation
import timeit
def slow_concat(items):
"""Slow string concatenation."""
result = ""
for item in items:
result += str(item)
return result
def fast_concat(items):
"""Fast string concatenation with join."""
return "".join(str(item) for item in items)
def faster_concat(items):
"""Even faster with list."""
parts = [str(item) for item in items]
return "".join(parts)
items = list(range(10000))
# Benchmark
slow = timeit.timeit(lambda: slow_concat(items), number=100)
fast = timeit.timeit(lambda: fast_concat(items), number=100)
faster = timeit.timeit(lambda: faster_concat(items), number=100)
print(f"Concatenation (+): {slow:.4f}s")
print(f"Join (generator): {fast:.4f}s")
print(f"Join (list): {faster:.4f}s")
Pattern 8: Dictionary Lookups vs List Searches
import timeit
# Create test data
size = 10000
items = list(range(size))
lookup_dict = {i: i for i in range(size)}
def list_search(items, target):
"""O(n) search in list."""
return target in items
def dict_search(lookup_dict, target):
"""O(1) search in dict."""
return target in lookup_dict
target = size - 1 # Worst case for list
# Benchmark
list_time = timeit.timeit(
lambda: list_search(items, target),
number=1000
)
dict_time = timeit.timeit(
lambda: dict_search(lookup_dict, target),
number=1000
)
print(f"List search: {list_time:.6f}s")
print(f"Dict search: {dict_time:.6f}s")
print(f"Speedup: {list_time/dict_time:.0f}x")
Pattern 9: Local Variable Access
import timeit
# Global variable (slow)
GLOBAL_VALUE = 100
def use_global():
"""Access global variable."""
total = 0
for i in range(10000):
total += GLOBAL_VALUE
return total
def use_local():
"""Use local variable."""
local_value = 100
total = 0
for i in range(10000):
total += local_value
return total
# Local is faster
global_time = timeit.timeit(use_global, number=1000)
local_time = timeit.timeit(use_local, number=1000)
print(f"Global access: {global_time:.4f}s")
print(f"Local access: {local_time:.4f}s")
print(f"Speedup: {global_time/local_time:.2f}x")
Pattern 10: Function Call Overhead
import timeit
def calculate_inline():
"""Inline calculation."""
total = 0
for i in range(10000):
total += i * 2 + 1
return total
def helper_function(x):
"""Helper function."""
return x * 2 + 1
def calculate_with_function():
"""Calculation with function calls."""
total = 0
for i in range(10000):
total += helper_function(i)
return total
# Inline is faster due to no call overhead
inline_time = timeit.timeit(calculate_inline, number=1000)
function_time = timeit.timeit(calculate_with_function, number=1000)
print(f"Inline: {inline_time:.4f}s")
print(f"Function calls: {function_time:.4f}s")
For advanced optimization techniques including NumPy vectorization, caching, memory management, parallelization, async I/O, database optimization, and benchmarking tools, see references/advanced-patterns.md
Best Practices
Profile before optimizing - Measure to find real bottlenecks
Focus on hot paths - Optimize code that runs most frequently
Use appropriate data structures - Dict for lookups, set for membership
Avoid premature optimization - Clarity first, then optimize
Use built-in functions - They're implemented in C
Cache expensive computations - Use lru_cache
Batch I/O operations - Reduce system calls
Use generators for large datasets
Consider NumPy for numerical operations
Profile production code - Use py-spy for live systems
Common Pitfalls
Optimizing without profiling
Using global variables unnecessarily
Not using appropriate data structures
Creating unnecessary copies of data
Not using connection pooling for databases
Ignoring algorithmic complexity
Over-optimizing rare code paths
Not considering memory usagedon't have the plugin yet? install it then click "run inline in claude" again.