Python 3.6.6 (default, Jun 27 2018, 13:11:40)
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IPython 6.3.1 -- An enhanced Interactive Python. Type '?' for help.

In [1]: from pybedtools import Interval
   ...:
   ...: my_bedtool = [Interval("X", 0, 100, strand="+") for _ in range(10000)]
   ...:
   ...: print('original')
   ...: %timeit [(chrom, start, end, strand) for (chrom, start, end, _, _, strand) in my_bedtool]
   ...:
   ...: print('* unpacking')
   ...: %timeit [(chrom, start, end, strand) for (chrom, start, end, *_, strand) in my_bedtool]
   ...:
   ...: print('attribute lookup')
   ...: %timeit [(interval.chrom, interval.start, interval.end, interval.strand) for interval in my_bedtool]
   ...:
   ...: from operator import attrgetter
   ...: get_interval_attrs = attrgetter("chrom", "start", "stop", "strand")
   ...: print('attrgetter')
   ...: %timeit [get_interval_attrs(interval) for interval in my_bedtool]
   ...:
   ...: print('dict lookup')
   ...: %timeit [tuple(interval[k] for k in ("chrom", "start", "stop", "strand")) for interval in my_bedtool]
   ...:
   ...: from operator import itemgetter
   ...: print('itemgetter')
   ...: get_interval_items = itemgetter("chrom", "start", "stop", "strand")
   ...: %timeit [get_interval_items(interval) for interval in my_bedtool]
   ...:
   ...:
original
11.4 ms +- 9.65 us per loop (mean +- std. dev. of 7 runs, 100 loops each)
* unpacking
15.4 ms +- 2.22 us per loop (mean +- std. dev. of 7 runs, 100 loops each)
attribute lookup
2.69 ms +- 481 ns per loop (mean +- std. dev. of 7 runs, 100 loops each)
attrgetter
3.35 ms +- 461 ns per loop (mean +- std. dev. of 7 runs, 100 loops each)
dict lookup
12.8 ms +- 2.46 us per loop (mean +- std. dev. of 7 runs, 100 loops each)
itemgetter
4.86 ms +- 1.21 us per loop (mean +- std. dev. of 7 runs, 100 loops each)