Lua versus Python 3 fastest programs Always look at the source code. These are only the fastest programs. Look at the other programs. They may seem more-like a fair comparison to you. n-body source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 292.55 1,224 1305 309.18 60% 22% 2% 21% Python 3 891.12 8,416 1196 924.03 1% 53% 47% 2% mandelbrot source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 128.80 21,684 623 447.54 85% 90% 88% 85% Python 3 263.87 48,268 688 1,054.07 100% 100% 100% 100% fasta source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 42.29 2,736 1061 58.72 6% 11% 24% 97% Python 3 63.63 841,056 1947 127.80 58% 61% 44% 37% spectral-norm source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 162.63 2,636 329 172.22 36% 1% 4% 65% Python 3 170.10 49,484 417 670.83 99% 98% 98% 99% binary-trees source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 101.95 890,168 664 374.32 90% 93% 93% 91% Python 3 80.82 448,104 589 288.23 91% 88% 91% 86% fannkuch-redux source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 833.78 1,152 462 893.00 14% 67% 21% 5% Python 3 494.58 47,432 950 1,956.79 98% 99% 98% 100% k-nucleotide source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 166.12 596,444 613 176.43 3% 79% 21% 4% Python 3 72.58 183,484 1967 276.33 95% 95% 94% 97% reverse-complement source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua 72.92 2,164,164 752 77.21 2% 4% 4% 96% Python 3 16.41 1,772,696 434 17.57 1% 78% 28% 0% regex-redux source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua Failed Python 3 2.67 111,864 1403 4.86 87% 30% 29% 35% pidigits source secs mem gz busy cpu load Lua Failed Python 3 2.39 12,200 567 2.55 64% 37% 5% 1% Lua Lua 5.4.0 Copyright (C) 1994-2020 Lua.org, PUC-Rio Python 3 Python 3.8.0 all Lua programs & measurements all Python 3 programs & measurements