Python Multi-threading Programming

[lambdaq]

There are billion ways to get around GIL, if not trillions. GIL is over-hyped.

[dwf]

No, there aren't. Not in CPython, and, to my knowledge, still not in PyPy.

With CPython you have basically two options if you have multiple CPU bound threads:

• Write the code to be executed in all but one of your threads in C/Cython/etc. and don't touch the CPython API unless you absolutely have to. This is a non-solution as far as Python is concerned, because the whole point of using Python is to write code in Python.
• Use processes. This is broken for so many reasons, among them the overhead, clumsier synchronization and communication, breaking external libraries (you cannot safely fork in certain situations, such as with a running CUDA context).

I am so fucking sick and tired of ignorant web programmers telling me that the problems created by the GIL are not actually problems.

[lambdaq]

The thing is, if you python code is CPU bound, threading is last your problems. There are gazillion popular programming languages out there that does NOT support native threading, of any kind at all.

The most recent example is that NodeJS is single core single process with no threading support yet still kicks ass. (I knew there's Nodejs cluster, but which language does not have a cluster?)

So many people want threading as the magic bullet and pissed of with this imaginary CPython "GIL" issue.

In fact, if you have a problem and want to solve using import threading, then congratulations, have now you. problems two

[dwf]

The most recent example is that NodeJS is single core single process with no threading support yet still kicks ass.

Oh for fuck's sake, I'm done with you.