Python’s lists, even though hugely efficient containers capable of a number of functions, have several limitations when compared to NumPy arrays. It is not possible to perform vectorised operations which includes element-wise addition and multiplication.
They also require that Python store the type information of every element since they support objects of different types. This means a type dispatching code must be executed each time an operation on an element is done. Also, each iteration would have to undergo type checks and require Python API bookkeeping resulting in very few operations being carried by C loops.
