Inside a function, the bytecode is

 2 0 SETUP_LOOP 20 (to 23) 3 LOAD_GLOBAL 0 (xrange) 6 LOAD_CONST 3 (100000000) 9 CALL_FUNCTION 1 12 GET_ITER >> 13 FOR_ITER 6 (to 22) 16 STORE_FAST 0 (i) 3 19 JUMP_ABSOLUTE 13 >> 22 POP_BLOCK >> 23 LOAD_CONST 0 (None) 26 RETURN_VALUE 

At top level, the bytecode is

 1 0 SETUP_LOOP 20 (to 23) 3 LOAD_NAME 0 (xrange) 6 LOAD_CONST 3 (100000000) 9 CALL_FUNCTION 1 12 GET_ITER >> 13 FOR_ITER 6 (to 22) 16 STORE_NAME 1 (i) 2 19 JUMP_ABSOLUTE 13 >> 22 POP_BLOCK >> 23 LOAD_CONST 2 (None) 26 RETURN_VALUE 

The difference is that STORE_FAST is faster (!) than STORE_NAME. This is because in a function, i is a local but at toplevel it is a global.

To examine bytecode, use the dis module. I was able to disassemble the function directly, but to disassemble the toplevel code I had to use the compile builtin.