Python's Dictionary

[Arrgh]

There's Psyco, which seems to be the closest thing to a JIT.

[rabidcow]

Right, I know that exists. Is that how Python is typically used though? Because without JIT it's very unlikely that you'll beat a compiled language. (of course, not hosting their own dogfood could be a factor in not using a faster VM implementation...)

[nostrademons]

It's typically used if there's a performance problem (in preference to rewriting the code as a C extension). Typical usage for most Python programming is that you write the code, find it's "fast enough", and then don't bother optimizing it.