Comment by progman

There actually is one high-level Python-like language that really is almost "as fast as C".

http://nim-lang.org

I am using it for years already, and it is really performant, somewhere between C and Rust. I am still wondering why so few people use it.

Benchmark: https://github.com/kostya/benchmarks

Nim vs Rust: http://arthurtw.github.io/2015/01/12/quick-comparison-nim-vs...

Performance discussion: http://forum.nim-lang.org/t/2261

Embedded Nim: https://hookrace.net/blog/nim-binary-size/

Nim on LLVM: https://github.com/arnetheduck/nlvm