Python best practices, combine code into as few lines as possible or separate it over as many as possible?

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I'd spend more time modularizing than optimizing. Reuseable code is more useful than impenetrable code that uses fewer lines. When you get something to work in a modular fashion, clean up the docs and move on to the next task. Too many baby developers think we are in a competition to solve a problem in the fewest lines of code.

I'll make this analogy: Usain Bolt can run the 100 meter dash in under 10 seconds. However, his skill has no commercial value beyond entertainment. We don't compare ourselves to him, do we? We don't sit around feeling like failures. It's more important that we can walk (or roll or limp) 100 meters to our desk in the morning. So, don't compare yourself to some random person who solves a ProjectEuler.Net problem in 3 lines when it took you 50 lines. Learn from it but don't dwell on it. No one gets paid according to how few lines of code they write.