[issue15339] document the threading "facts of life" in Python

New submission from Chris Jerdonek chris.jerdonek@gmail.com:
I think it would be helpful if the Python documentation included certain high-level information about multi-threading in Python.
At minimum, I think it would help for the documentation to provide a definition that can be linked to of what it means when some part of the Python documentation says something is "thread-safe". In particular, such a definition could clarify that this is different from being atomic. This might best be addressed by an entry in the glossary for the term "thread-safe".
Other documentation possibilities include stating what guarantees one should or should not expect regarding thread-safety, both within and across implementations, and providing centralized guidance on how to approach multi-threaded programming in Python. A HOWTO is one possibility for addressing these other possibilities.
This issue stems from the discussion in issue 15329, which is more specific.
---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation messages: 165336 nosy: cjerdonek, docs@python priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: document the threading "facts of life" in Python
_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________

Antoine Pitrou pitrou@free.fr added the comment:
This sounds like a good idea. Either a HOWTO or a FAQ would sound appropriate.
---------- nosy: +pitrou versions: +Python 2.7, Python 3.2, Python 3.3
_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________

Raymond Hettinger raymond.hettinger@gmail.com added the comment:
If no one gets to it first, I'll write-up a draft when I get a chance.
---------- assignee: docs@python -> rhettinger nosy: +rhettinger priority: normal -> low
_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________

Changes by Tshepang Lekhonkhobe tshepang@gmail.com:
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_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan@gmail.com added the comment:
Given the scope of the issue, a concurrent programming howto that lists some of the available options and the caveats associated with each of them seems worthwhile.
---------- nosy: +ncoghlan
_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________

Changes by xiaobing jiang s7v7nislands@gmail.com:
---------- nosy: +s7v7nislands@gmail.com
_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________

Changes by Raymond Hettinger raymond.hettinger@gmail.com:
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Gregory P. Smith added the comment:
This seems somewhat related to the "We need to document Python's concurrency and memory model" that came out at the language summit this year.
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_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________

Change by Irit Katriel iritkatriel@yahoo.com:
---------- priority: low -> normal stage: -> needs patch type: -> behavior versions: +Python 3.10, Python 3.9 -Python 2.7, Python 3.2, Python 3.3
_______________________________________ Python tracker report@bugs.python.org https://bugs.python.org/issue15339 _______________________________________
participants (8)
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Antoine Pitrou
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Chris Jerdonek
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Gregory P. Smith
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Irit Katriel
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Nick Coghlan
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Raymond Hettinger
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Tshepang Lekhonkhobe
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xiaobing jiang