As long as Python uses a GIL to protect C level function
calls, you can use an iterator for this:
import itertools
x = itertools.count()
...
mycount = next(x)
Yeah, that's a neat hack -- I saw it recommended on StackOverflow, and saw it used in the standard library somewhere. I think that's probably okay in the *CPython* stdlib, because it's CPython so you know it has the GIL. But this wouldn't work in other Python implementations, would it (IronPython and Jython don't have a GIL). Or when itertools.count() is implemented in pure Python on some system? Seems like it could blow up in someone's face when they're least expecting it. I also think using *iter*tools is a pretty non-obvious way to get a thread-safe counter.