Not shown in the book, here are some initial speed tests for the min variants using Chapter 21 tools:


>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min1; x = list(range(1000))', stmt='min1(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.0196071220561862
>>> 
>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min2; x = list(range(1000))', stmt='min2(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.017730026971548796
>>> 
>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min3; x = list(range(1000))', stmt='min3(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.008913148660212755
>>> 
>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min4; x = list(range(1000))', stmt='min4(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.008982725907117128


To compare better, randomize argument order (though doing so seems to overshadow min time here):


>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min1; x = list(range(1000)); import random; random.shuffle(x)', stmt='min1(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.02311610197648406
>>> 
>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min2; x = list(range(1000)); import random; random.shuffle(x)', stmt='min2(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.020611628890037537
>>> 
>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min3; x = list(range(1000)); import random; random.shuffle(x)', stmt='min3(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.0777038000524044
>>> 
>>> min(timeit.repeat(setup='from mins import min4; x = list(range(1000)); import random; random.shuffle(x)', stmt='min4(*x)', repeat=10, number=1000))
0.07786580640822649