title: Comparing Performance in Python: equal versus non equal
body: <p>When comparing any variable, there is the choice of comparing equality versus comparing inequality. For variables with one element, <em>not a string/list/tuple/etc...</em>, the difference is probably either non-existent or negligible. </p>
  
  <p><strong>The Question:</strong>
  When comparing two multi-element variables, is checking whether they are equal slower or faster than comparing whether they are not equal.</p>
  
  <p>My gut is telling me comparing whether they are not equal should be faster. I'm curious if anybody can tell me if this is true, and for which types of multi-element types this is so.</p>
  
  <p><strong><em>Note</strong>: I have looked, and haven't found any posts here that answers my question. It might just be obvious, but I'd like to have more opinions than just my own.</em></p>