Introduction to Threading Module

The threading module was first introduced in Python 1.5.2 as an enhancement of the low-level thread module. The threading module makes working with threads much easier and allows the program to run multiple operations at once.

Note that the threads in Python work best with I/O operations, such as downloading resources from the Internet or reading files and directories on your computer. If you need to do something that will be CPU intensive, then you will want to look at Python’s multiprocessing module instead. The reason for this is that Python has the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) that basically makes all threads run inside of one master thread. Because of this, when you run multiple CPU intensive operations with threads, you may find that it actually runs slower. So we will be focusing on what threads do best: I/O operations!

Intro to threads

A thread lets you run a piece of long running code as if it were a separate program. It’s kind of like calling subprocess except that you are calling a function or class instead of a separate program. We always find it helpful to look at a concrete example.

Simple example of threading module

Let’s take a look at something that’s really simple: