Conclusion

While both augmented assignments and list comprehensions appear to be adding a twist to Python's easygoing syntax, the basic philosophy of keeping the language clean and simple has not changed. The key value-adds that these new features bring to the table is actually under the covers.

Augmented assignment only evaluates the first object once—a timesaver and performance enhancer over the long haul. Also, because function objects created by lambda are practically the same as those generated by def, the overhead of a real function call is incurred when they are executed. By using list comprehensions, there is no additional function object created on the fly, nor is there the additional function call overhead present. In this sense, list comprehensions give Python more “inlined” execution.