Calling Rust from Python

Quick exploration of using Rust for extending Python packages.

Timings

See test.py.

I felt it was interesting to compare different implementations of taking the maximum value of an array. Some in Python and some through Rust.

Python max():      0.085s
Python for-loop:   0.161s
Rust max():        1.361s
Rust 'do nothing': 1.228s
Rust actual max(): 0.133s
Rust pyarrow:      0.359s

Note, calculating the maximum value in Rust is slow because the array data has to be converted and copied.

Running it yourself

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
maturin develop
python test.py

Tools used

• pyo3
• maturin
• pyarrow integration for Rust: "Pass Arrow objects from and to PyArrow"

Helpful resources

• Rust in Python's Arrow revolution