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Python 3.2 ALPHA is out.
From the Change Log, it appears the GIL has been entirely rewritten.
A few questions:
UPDATE:
I'm fairly new to Python. So all of this is new to my but I do at least understand that the existence of a GIL with CPython is a huge deal.
Question though, why does CPython not just clone the interpreter like Perl does in an attempt to remove the need for the GIL?
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You can't argue with the single-threaded performance benefits of the GIL. So the result is that Python 3 still has the GIL.
The GIL's low performance overhead really shines for single-threaded operations, including I/O-multiplexed programs where libraries like asyncio are used, and this is still a predominant use of Python.
This is achieved by preventing threads to use the Python interpreter simultaneously while they run. Use threaded extensions in C where GIL is not a problem (Numexpr, NumPy with MKL, SciPy with FFTW...): Pro: powerful and very easy to use.
GIL or Global Interpreter Lock Generally, Python uses a single thread to run a single process. We get the same performance result of the single-threaded and multi-threaded processes using the GIL. It restricts achieving multithreading in Python because it prevents the threads and works as a single thread.
The best explanation I've seen as to why the GIL sucks is here:
http://www.dabeaz.com/python/GIL.pdf
And the same guy has a presentation on the new GIL here:
http://www.dabeaz.com/python/NewGIL.pdf
If that's all that's been done it still sucks - just not as bad. Multiple threads will behave better. Multi-core will still do nothing for you with a single python app.
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