Warning: This answer is contested. See comments.
def doAppend( size=10000 ):
result = []
for i in range(size):
message= "some unique object %d" % ( i, )
result.append(message)
return result
def doAllocate( size=10000 ):
result=size*[None]
for i in range(size):
message= "some unique object %d" % ( i, )
result[i]= message
return result
Results. (evaluate each function 144 times and average the duration)
simple append 0.0102
pre-allocate 0.0098
Conclusion. It barely matters.
Premature optimization is the root of all evil.