[Python-Dev] Pythonic concurrency

[Ian Bicking]

Phillip J. Eby wrote:
> What the GIL-ranters don't get is that the GIL actually gives you just 
> enough determinism to be able to write threaded programs that don't crash, 
> and that maybe will even work if you treat every point of interaction 
> between threads as a minefield and program with appropriate care.  So, if 
> threads are "easy" in Python compared to other langauges, it's *because of* 
> the GIL, not in spite of it.

Three cheers for the GIL!

For the record, since I was quoted at the beginning of this subthread, 
*I* don't think threads are easy.  But among all ways to handle 
concurrency, I just don't think they are so bad.  And unlike many 
alternatives, they are relatively easy to get started with, and you can 
do a lot of work in a threaded system without knowing anything about 
threads.  Of course, threads aren't the only way to accomplish that, 
just one of the easiest.

-- 
Ian Bicking  /  ianb at colorstudy.com  /  http://blog.ianbicking.org