title: Should I use multiplication or division?
body: <p>Here's a silly fun question:</p>
  
  <p>Let's say we have to perform a simple operation where we need half of the value of a variable. There are <em>typically</em> two ways of doing this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>y = x / 2.0;
  // or...
  y = x * 0.5;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Assuming we're using the standard operators provided with the language, which one has better performance?</p>
  
  <p>I'm guessing multiplication is typically better so I try to stick to that when I code, but I would like to confirm this. </p>
  
  <p>Although personally I'm interested in the answer for <strong>Python</strong> 2.4-2.5, feel free to also post an answer for other languages! And if you'd like, feel free to post other fancier ways (like using bitwise shift operators) as well.</p>