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Python VS Numba

Compare Python VS Numba and see what are their differences

Python logo Python

Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

Numba logo Numba

Numba gives you the power to speed up your applications with high performance functions written...
  • Python Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17

  • Numba Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-09-05

Python features and specs

  • Easy to Learn
    Python syntax is clear and readable, which makes it an excellent choice for beginners and allows for quick learning and prototyping.
  • Versatile
    Python can be used for web development, data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, and more, making it a highly versatile programming language.
  • Large Standard Library
    Python comes with a comprehensive standard library that includes modules and packages for various tasks, reducing the need to write code from scratch.
  • Strong Community Support
    Python has a large and active community, which means a wealth of third-party packages, tutorials, and documentation is available for assistance.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Python is compatible with major operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing for easy development and deployment across different platforms.
  • Good for Rapid Development
    The high-level nature of Python allows for quick development cycles and fast iteration, which is ideal for startups and prototyping.

Possible disadvantages of Python

  • Performance Limitations
    Python is generally slower than compiled languages like C or Java because it is an interpreted language, which can be a drawback for performance-critical applications.
  • Global Interpreter Lock (GIL)
    The GIL in CPython, the most used Python interpreter, prevents multiple native threads from executing Python bytecodes at once, limiting multi-threading capabilities.
  • Memory Consumption
    Python can be more memory-intensive compared to some other languages, which might be a concern for applications with tight memory constraints.
  • Mobile Development
    Python is not a primary choice for mobile app development, where languages like Java, Swift, or Kotlin are more commonly used.
  • Runtime Errors
    Being a dynamically typed language, Python code can sometimes lead to runtime errors that would be caught at compile-time in statically typed languages.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies in Python projects can sometimes be complex and cumbersome, especially when dealing with conflicting versions of libraries.

Numba features and specs

  • Performance
    Numba can significantly increase the speed of execution for numerically intensive Python code by compiling Python functions to optimized machine code using LLVM.
  • Ease of Use
    Numba is user-friendly and requires minimal code changes. Often, just applying a decorator to functions is enough to gain performance benefits.
  • Integration with NumPy
    Numba works well with NumPy, allowing users to compile functions that utilize NumPy arrays efficiently.
  • JIT Compilation
    It supports Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation, enabling functions to be compiled at runtime, which allows for optimizations based on actual usage.
  • GPGPU Acceleration
    Numba offers support for GPU acceleration, which can further enhance performance by offloading tasks to NVIDIA GPUs using CUDA.

Possible disadvantages of Numba

  • Limited Python Feature Support
    Numba does not support all Python features and standard library modules, which can limit its applicability for certain functions or applications.
  • Compilation Overhead
    The initial compilation of functions can add overhead, which might negate performance gains for small or simple tasks.
  • Debugging Difficulty
    Debugging Numba-compiled code can be challenging due to the compiled nature of the code, which may obscure typical Python error messages.
  • Complex Code Compatibility
    More complex Python constructs, such as classes and closures, are not fully supported, requiring workarounds or alternative solutions.
  • Dependency on LLVM
    Numba heavily relies on the LLVM library for compilation, which can complicate installation and increase dependency size.

Python videos

Creator of Python Programming Language, Guido van Rossum | Oxford Union

Numba videos

The Criminal History of RondoNumbaNine

More videos:

  • Review - lucky numba review
  • Review - RondoNumbaNine - Free RondoNumbaNine "Clint Massey” (Official Interview - WSHH Exclusive)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Python and Numba)
Programming Language
92 92%
8% 8
Website Builder
0 0%
100% 100
OOP
100 100%
0% 0
Website Design
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Python and Numba

Python Reviews

Pine Script Alternatives: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Indicator Languages
Technical analysis in trading has come a long way, with various programming languages emerging to support traders in developing custom indicators. While Pine Script has been a popular choice for many, alternatives like Indie, ThinkScript, NinjaScript, MetaQuotes Language (MQL), and even general-purpose languages like Python and C++ are gaining traction. Let’s explore these...
Source: medium.com
Top 5 Most Liked and Hated Programming Languages of 2022
No wonder Python is one of the easiest programming languages to work upon. This general-purpose programming language finds immense usage in the field of web development, machine learning applications, as well as cutting-edge technology in the software industry. The fact that Python is used by major tech giants such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc. is good enough proof as to...
Top 10 Rust Alternatives
This programming langue is typed statically and operates on a complied system. It works based on several computing languages Python, Ada, and Modula.
15 data science tools to consider using in 2021
Python is the most widely used programming language for data science and machine learning and one of the most popular languages overall. The Python open source project's website describes it as "an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics," as well as built-in data structures and dynamic typing and binding capabilities. The site...
The 10 Best Programming Languages to Learn Today
Python's variety of applications make it a powerful and versatile language for different use cases. Python-based web development frameworks like Django and Flask are gaining popularity fast. It's also equipped with quality machine learning and data analysis tools like Scikit-learn and Pandas.
Source: ict.gov.ge

Numba Reviews

We have no reviews of Numba yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Python should be more popular than Numba. It has been mentiond 288 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Python mentions (288)

  • A Beginner's Guide to Auto-Instrumenting a Flask App with OpenTelemetry and SigNoz
    If Python is not installed, download it from python.org or use your system's package manager (e.g., sudo apt install python3 on Ubuntu). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Scraping Infinite Scroll Pages with a 'Load More' Button: A Step-by-Step Guide
    Python Installed: Download and install the latest Python version from python.org, including pip during setup. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Get Started with Python
    First, you'll need to install Python if you don't have it already. Go to the official Python website python.org, download the latest version, and follow the instructions. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Unlocking DuckDB from Anywhere - A Guide to Remote Access with Apache Arrow and Flight RPC (gRPC)
    Python: We’ll use Python for it’s simplicity and accessibility. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Python Packaging is Great Now: `uv` is all you need
    Bootstrapping was an often neglected problem. Should we tell people to install Python from https://python.org? The Anaconda distribution? How do we stop folks from using their system package manager and risk breaking everything? - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
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Numba mentions (93)

  • I Use Nim Instead of Python for Data Processing
    >Not type safe That's the point. Look up what duck typing means in Python. Your program is meant to throw exceptions if you pass in data that doesn't look and act how it needs to. This means that in Python you don't need to do defensive programming. It's not like in C where you spend many hundreds of lines safe-guarding buffer lengths, memory allocation, return codes, static type sizes, and so on. That means that... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Gravitational Collapse of Spongebob
    I believe it is using Numba which converts to machine code. https://numba.pydata.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Mojo🔥: Head -to-Head with Python and Numba
    Around the same time, I discovered Numba and was fascinated by how easily it could bring huge performance improvements to Python code. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Mojo: The usability of Python with the performance of C
    Or you use numba [1]. Then you can use a subset of plain Python. [1] https://numba.pydata.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Is anyone using PyPy for real work?
    Simulations are, at least in my experience, numba’s [0] wheelhouse. [0]: https://numba.pydata.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Python and Numba, you can also consider the following products

JavaScript - Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions

Cython - Cython is a language that makes writing C extensions for the Python language as easy as Python...

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language

cx_Freeze - cx_Freeze is a set of scripts and modules for freezing Python scripts into executables in much the...

Java - A concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, language specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible

PyInstaller - PyInstaller is a program that freezes (packages) Python programs into stand-alone executables...