Cython is definitely worth learning if you're writing in Python and want to make something that runs fast -- numeric or otherwise. It's a Python-to-C compiler that has two killer features:
1. For the most part, you can just take existing Python code and have it magically transformed into not-too-horrible C. A few optional type annotations will help with the speed, but the compatibility is great right from the get-go.
2. With a little care, you can often get the inner loops of your Python code to be just as fast as hand-written C.
The tutorial is a quick read, and gets you up to speed without much effort:
1. For the most part, you can just take existing Python code and have it magically transformed into not-too-horrible C. A few optional type annotations will help with the speed, but the compatibility is great right from the get-go.
2. With a little care, you can often get the inner loops of your Python code to be just as fast as hand-written C.
The tutorial is a quick read, and gets you up to speed without much effort:
http://docs.cython.org/