Python Programming On Win32

Appendix D. Threads

Ahh, threads—those little things that seem so simple to understand and to use, but are so hard to use correctly. The less you have used threads, the simpler they appear, but speak to any experienced thread programmer, and they can regale you with tales of all-night sessions tracking down threading-related bugs nearly impossible to reproduce.

So why an appendix instead of a chapter? Indeed, the question should be why an appendix instead of a complete book! Threads are deceptively complex, usually due to the synchronization required between the different threads to help coordinate their activity. These considerations aren’t specific to Windows, and there are plenty of excellent references available on threaded programming independent of the operating system or programming language available.

We make no attempt to cover the basics of thread programming. Instead, this appendix attempts to cover only some of the Windows specific threading-related issues. We don’t attempt to teach thread programming, and certainly won’t present any complex or real-world threaded examples. We simply restrict ourselves to discussions of threading-specific issues that may affect you when using Python on the Windows platform.