def distance(point1, point2):
    """
    Computes the Eclidean distance from point1 to point2.
    Square root is not applied for sake of speed.

    :param point1: first point coordinates as a [x,y] list
    :param point2: second point coordinates as a [x,y] list
    :return: squared Euclidean distance between point1 and point2
    """
    y_span = point1[1] - point2[1]
    x_span = point1[0] - point2[0]
    return y_span ** 2 + x_span ** 2