title: Is there anything faster than dict()?
body: <p>I need a faster way to store and access around 3GB of <code>k:v</code> pairs. Where <code>k</code> is a string or an integer and <code>v</code> is an <code>np.array()</code> that can be of different shapes.</p>
  <p>Is there any object that is faster than the standard python dict in storing and accessing such a table? For example, a <code>pandas.DataFrame</code>?</p>
  <p>As far I have understood, python dict is a quite fast implementation of a hashtable. Is there anything better than that for my specific case?</p>