Advanced Python Programming

Terminating processes

The terminate() method from the multiprocessing.Process class offers a way to quickly terminate a process. When the method is called, exit handlers, finally causes, or similar resources that are specified in the Process class or an overridden class will not be executed. However, descendant processes of the terminated process will not be terminated. These processes are known as orphaned processes.

Although terminating processes is sometimes frowned upon, it is sometimes necessary because some processes interact with interprocess-communication resources, such as locks, semaphores, pipes, or queues, and forcibly stopping those processes is likely to cause those resources to become corrupted or unavailable to other processes. ...