The future of "frozen" types as the number of CPU cores increases

[Ethan Furman]

John Nagle wrote:
> John Nagle wrote:
> 
>>    I look at this as Python's answer to multicore CPUs and "Go".
> 
>    On that note, I went to a talk at Stanford yesterday by one of the
> designers of Intel's Nelahem core.  The four-core, eight thread
> version is out now.  The six-core, twelve thread version is working;
> the speaker has one in his lab.  The eight-core, sixteen thread version
> is some months away.  This isn't an expensive CPU; this is Intel's
> "converged" mainstream product.  (Although there will be a whole range
> of "economy" and "performance" versions, all with the same core but
> with some stuff turned off.)
> 
>    Python isn't ready for this.  Not with the GIL.
> 
>    Multiple processes are not the answer.  That means loading multiple
> copies of the same code into different areas of memory.  The cache
> miss rate goes up accordingly.
> 
>                     John Nagle


Will the new GIL in 3.2 make this workable?  It would still be one 
thread at a time, though, wouldn't it.

~Ethan~