Usually you need hot pan as the water will vaporise and make a vapor layer that prevent sticking

For inox pan, it also avoid that the micro cracks in the metal move and expand during the cooking which tend to trap the food and make it stick a lot

But you should avoid to heat a non-stick pan without food as it can emit toxic fume if it reach a critical temperature

There is a difference being able to drop down in C and using exclusively C.

One of the main advantage of python is being to quickly write code, and using C-based library / part of code written in C (or fortran, or rust for what it matters) when needed.

“just write C” may lack a bit of nuance.