Status of Python threading support (GIL removal)?

[Aahz]

In article <90303b55-8686-4d56-b89c-01e31d0a6080 at l8g2000vbp.googlegroups.com>,
=?windows-1252?Q?Jure_Erzno=9Enik?=  <jure.erznoznik at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>So, recently I started writing a part of this new system in Python. A
>report generator to be exact. Let's not go into existing offerings,
>they are insufficient for our needs.
>
>First I started on a few tests. I wanted to know how the reporting
>engine will behave if I do this or that. One of the first tests was,
>naturally, threading. The reporting engine itself will have separate,
>semi-independent parts that can be threaded well, so I wanted to test
>that.

This is not something that I would expect Python threads to provide a
performance boost for.  I would expect that if it were a GUI app, it
would improve responsiveness, properly designed.  If performance were a
goal, I would start by profiling it under a single-threaded design and
see where the hotspots were, then either choose one of several options
for improving performance or go multi-process.

Note that I'm generally one of the Python thread boosters (unlike some
people who claim that Python threads are worthless), but I also never
claim that Python threads are good for CPU-intensive operations (which
report generation is), *except* for making GUI applications more
responsive.
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"as long as we like the same operating system, things are cool." --piranha