Fast Python

by Tiago Antao

Released June 2023

Publisher(s): Manning Publications

ISBN: None

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Audiobook description

Master Python techniques and libraries to reduce run times, efficiently handle huge datasets, and optimize execution for complex machine learning applications.

Fast Python is a toolbox of techniques for high performance Python including:

Writing efficient pure-Python code
Optimizing the NumPy and pandas libraries
Rewriting critical code in Cython
Designing persistent data structures
Tailoring code for different architectures
Implementing Python GPU computing

Fast Python is your guide to optimizing every part of your Python-based data analysis process, from the pure Python code you write to managing the resources of modern hardware and GPUs. You'll learn to rewrite inefficient data structures, improve underperforming code with multithreading, and simplify your datasets without sacrificing accuracy.

Written for experienced practitioners, this book dives right into practical solutions for improving computation and storage efficiency. You'll experiment with fun and interesting examples such as rewriting games in Cython and implementing a MapReduce framework from scratch. Finally, you'll go deep into Python GPU computing and learn how modern hardware has rehabilitated some former antipatterns and made counterintuitive ideas the most efficient way of working.

About the Technology
Face it. Slow code will kill a big data project. Fast pure-Python code, optimized libraries, and fully utilized multiprocessor hardware are the price of entry for machine learning and large-scale data analysis. What you need are reliable solutions that respond faster to computing requirements while using less resources, and saving money.

About the Book
Fast Python is a toolbox of techniques for speeding up Python, with an emphasis on big data applications. Following the clear examples and precisely articulated details, you’ll learn how to use common libraries like NumPy and pandas in more performant ways and transform data for efficient storage and I/O. More importantly, Fast Python takes a holistic approach to performance, so you’ll see how to optimize the whole system, from code to architecture_._

What's Inside

Rewriting critical code in Cython
Designing persistent data structures
Tailoring code for different architectures
Implementing Python GPU computing

About the Reader
For intermediate Python programmers familiar with the basics of concurrency.

About the Author
Tiago Antao is one of the co-authors of Biopython, a major bioinformatics package written in Python.

Quotes
A great resource for learning how to create performant Python code.
- Or Golan, Qedma Quantum Computing

If you think Python is too slow, this book is for you! Parallelization. Vectorization. Using Cython and Numba to compile to C. Putting code onto a GPU to massively parallelize it. Buy a copy for every data scientist in your org.
- James Liu, Mediaocean

The time you invest reading this book will be repaid multifold in your project’s design and the performance you’ll gain.
- Ruud Gijsen, Simbeyond