Python tarfile slow than Linux command
centos, python
Solution
`tar` is written in C. The `tarfile` module is a pure Python implementation of tar handling. There is no way that the module will be faster than the command.
Problem
I tried the different way to zip folder.My understanding is that Python built-in module always faster than subprocess.call("Linux command"). But I just did some demo. The tarfile module is slow than subprocess.call("tar").Can someone explain it to me? ``` #!/usr/bin/python import os import time import tarfile import subprocess tStart1 = time.time() TestFolder = ["Jack", "Robin"] for folder in TestFolder: name = "/mnt/ShareDrive/Share/ExistingUsers/"+folder path = "/mnt/TEST2/" tar = tarfile.open(path+folder+".tar.gz", "w:gz") tar.add(name) tar.close() tEnd1 = time.time() time.sleep(2) tStart2 = time.time() for folder in TestFolder: path = "/mnt/TEST1/" subprocess.call(["tar", "zcvf", path+folder+".tar.gz", "-P", "/mnt/ShareDrive/Share/ExistingUsers/"+folder]) tEnd2 = time.time() print "The module cost %f sec" % (tEnd1 - tStart1) print "The subprocess cost %f sec" % (tEnd2 - tStart2) ``` The tarfile module cost 63 sec. The subprocess cost only 32 sec. The total size of two folders is 433 MB