Intuitive Python

Chapter 3Ramping Up with Concurrent Code

It’s a chilly autumn morning, and several hundred runners are lined up behind the starting line. The runners are excited to begin the 10-kilometer race, and I’m one of them.

I’ve never won a race. It’s not for lack of trying—I’ve run plenty of races over varying distances. But I’ve never won.

Sometimes I’ll start a race off at a good pace and then get a stitch in my side and slow down. I usually feel like I’m running fast, but then I’ll be halfway through a race only to see a parent pushing a child in a stroller and chatting on a cell phone pass me. I prepare for the race by jogging the distance on my own ahead of time. But, whatever I do, there’s always someone that day who is faster.

I compensate for ...