Expert Python Programming - Third Edition

Cooperative multitasking and asynchronous I/O

Cooperative multitasking is the core of asynchronous programming. In this style of computer multitasking, it's not a responsibility of the operating system to initiate a context switch (to another process or thread), but instead every process voluntarily releases the control when it is idle to enable simultaneous execution of multiple programs. This is why it is called cooperative. All processes need to cooperate in order to multitask smoothly.

This model of multitasking was sometimes employed in the operating systems, but now it is hardly found as a system-level solution. This is because there is a hazard that one poorly designed service can easily break the whole system's stability. Thread ...