uglytest.py

import random                                                                                                           
import time                                                                                                             
s = set()                                                                                                               
for x in xrange(1000):                                                                                                  
    s.add(str(random.randint(1,1000000)))                                                                               
d = {x:1 for x in s}                                                                                                    

n = d.keys()[:400]                                                                                                      
n.extend([ str(random.randint(1,1000000)) for i in xrange(1000) ])                                                      

def test(col):                                                                                                          
    res = 0                                                                                                             
    start = time.time()                                                                                                 
    for x in xrange(1000):                                                                                              
        for i in n:                                                                                                     
            res += 1 if i in col else 0                                                                                 
    end = time.time()                                                                                                   
    print type(col),"elapsed:", end - start                                                                             
                                                                                                                        
test(s)                                                                                                                 
test(d)                                                                                                                 
test(s)                                                                                                                 
test(d)                                                                                                                 
test(s)                                                                                                                 
test(d)                                                                                                                 
test(s)                                                                                                                 
test(d)                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                        
=======  run results  ========
mac:~$ python x.py 
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.0853579044342
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0813100337982
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.0829548835754
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0841579437256
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.0930590629578
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0867938995361
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.0977139472961
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0818090438843
mac:~$ python x.py 
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.0851221084595
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0833868980408
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.0867528915405
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0816919803619
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.0821380615234
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0829949378967
<type 'set'> elapsed: 0.083251953125
<type 'dict'> elapsed: 0.0812418460846

btw, this was run on python 2.7.10 on macbook pro