1、Use xrange instead of range.
2、"".join(string) is better than + or +=
3、while 1 is faster than while True
4、 list comphrension > for loop > while loop
Use Map, Reduce and Filter instead of for loop where ever possible.
5、for checking 'a in b', dict or set is better than list/tuple.
6、if you need manipulations on both ends of a list, use deque.