old_contents: # Find the only pythagorean triplet that a + b + c = 1000 
  
  import math
  import timeit
  
  
  start = timeit.default_timer()
  
  def euler_9():
      for a in xrange(1, 3000):
          b = a + 1
          for b in xrange(b, 3000):
              if sum([a, b, (math.sqrt(a**2 + b**2))]) == 1000:
                  return int((a * b * (math.sqrt(a**2 + b**2))))
              elif sum([a, b, (math.sqrt(a**2 + b**2))]) > 1000:
                  break
  
  print 'Answer: %s' % euler_9()
  stop = timeit.default_timer()
  print 'Time: %f' % (stop - start)
  
new_contents: # Find the only pythagorean triplet that a + b + c = 1000 
  
  import math
  import timeit
  
  
  start = timeit.default_timer()
  
  def euler_9():
      for a in xrange(1, 3000):
          b = a + 1
          for b in xrange(b, 3000):
              c = sum([a, b, (math.sqrt(a**2 + b**2))])
              if c == 1000:
                  return int(a * b * (math.sqrt(a**2 + b**2)))
              elif c > 1000:
                  break
  
  print 'Answer: %s' % euler_9()
  stop = timeit.default_timer()
  print 'Time: %f' % (stop - start)
  
subject: add an assignment before conditional; clearer/cleaner