8. Initialization, Finalization, and Threads¶

8.3.1. Releasing the GIL from extension code¶

Most extension code manipulating the GIL has the following simple structure:

Save the thread state in a local variable.
Release the global interpreter lock.
... Do some blocking I/O operation ...
Reacquire the global interpreter lock.
Restore the thread state from the local variable.

This is so common that a pair of macros exists to simplify it:

Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
... Do some blocking I/O operation ...
Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS

The Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS macro opens a new block and declares a hidden local variable; the Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS macro closes the block. These two macros are still available when Python is compiled without thread support (they simply have an empty expansion).

When thread support is enabled, the block above expands to the following code:

PyThreadState *_save;

_save = PyEval_SaveThread();
...Do some blocking I/O operation...
PyEval_RestoreThread(_save);

Here is how these functions work: the global interpreter lock is used to protect the pointer to the current thread state. When releasing the lock and saving the thread state, the current thread state pointer must be retrieved before the lock is released (since another thread could immediately acquire the lock and store its own thread state in the global variable). Conversely, when acquiring the lock and restoring the thread state, the lock must be acquired before storing the thread state pointer.

8.3.2. Non-Python created threads¶

When threads are created using the dedicated Python APIs (such as the threading module), a thread state is automatically associated to them and the code showed above is therefore correct. However, when threads are created from C (for example by a third-party library with its own thread management), they don’t hold the GIL, nor is there a thread state structure for them.

If you need to call Python code from these threads (often this will be part of a callback API provided by the aforementioned third-party library), you must first register these threads with the interpreter by creating a thread state data structure, then acquiring the GIL, and finally storing their thread state pointer, before you can start using the Python/C API. When you are done, you should reset the thread state pointer, release the GIL, and finally free the thread state data structure.

The PyGILState_Ensure() and PyGILState_Release() functions do all of the above automatically. The typical idiom for calling into Python from a C thread is:

PyGILState_STATE gstate;
gstate = PyGILState_Ensure();

/* Perform Python actions here. */
result = CallSomeFunction();
/* evaluate result or handle exception */

/* Release the thread. No Python API allowed beyond this point. */
PyGILState_Release(gstate);

Note that the PyGILState_*() functions assume there is only one global interpreter (created automatically by Py_Initialize()). Python supports the creation of additional interpreters (using Py_NewInterpreter()), but mixing multiple interpreters and the PyGILState_*() API is unsupported.

Another important thing to note about threads is their behaviour in the face of the C fork() call. On most systems with fork(), after a process forks only the thread that issued the fork will exist. That also means any locks held by other threads will never be released. Python solves this for os.fork() by acquiring the locks it uses internally before the fork, and releasing them afterwards. In addition, it resets any lock-objects in the child. When extending or embedding Python, there is no way to inform Python of additional (non-Python) locks that need to be acquired before or reset after a fork. OS facilities such as pthread_atfork() would need to be used to accomplish the same thing. Additionally, when extending or embedding Python, calling fork() directly rather than through os.fork() (and returning to or calling into Python) may result in a deadlock by one of Python’s internal locks being held by a thread that is defunct after the fork. PyOS_AfterFork() tries to reset the necessary locks, but is not always able to.

8.3.3. High-level API¶

These are the most commonly used types and functions when writing C extension code, or when embedding the Python interpreter:

PyInterpreterState¶

This data structure represents the state shared by a number of cooperating threads. Threads belonging to the same interpreter share their module administration and a few other internal items. There are no public members in this structure.

Threads belonging to different interpreters initially share nothing, except process state like available memory, open file descriptors and such. The global interpreter lock is also shared by all threads, regardless of to which interpreter they belong.

PyThreadState¶

This data structure represents the state of a single thread. The only public data member is PyInterpreterState *interp, which points to this thread’s interpreter state.

void PyEval_InitThreads()¶

int PyEval_ThreadsInitialized()¶

Returns a non-zero value if PyEval_InitThreads() has been called. This function can be called without holding the GIL, and therefore can be used to avoid calls to the locking API when running single-threaded. This function is not available when thread support is disabled at compile time.

New in version 2.4.

PyThreadState* PyEval_SaveThread()¶

Release the global interpreter lock (if it has been created and thread support is enabled) and reset the thread state to NULL, returning the previous thread state (which is not NULL). If the lock has been created, the current thread must have acquired it. (This function is available even when thread support is disabled at compile time.)

void PyEval_RestoreThread(PyThreadState *tstate)¶

Acquire the global interpreter lock (if it has been created and thread support is enabled) and set the thread state to tstate, which must not be NULL. If the lock has been created, the current thread must not have acquired it, otherwise deadlock ensues. (This function is available even when thread support is disabled at compile time.)

PyThreadState* PyThreadState_Get()¶

Return the current thread state. The global interpreter lock must be held. When the current thread state is NULL, this issues a fatal error (so that the caller needn’t check for NULL).

PyThreadState* PyThreadState_Swap(PyThreadState *tstate)¶

Swap the current thread state with the thread state given by the argument tstate, which may be NULL. The global interpreter lock must be held and is not released.

void PyEval_ReInitThreads()¶

This function is called from PyOS_AfterFork() to ensure that newly created child processes don’t hold locks referring to threads which are not running in the child process.

The following functions use thread-local storage, and are not compatible with sub-interpreters:

PyGILState_STATE PyGILState_Ensure()¶

Ensure that the current thread is ready to call the Python C API regardless of the current state of Python, or of the global interpreter lock. This may be called as many times as desired by a thread as long as each call is matched with a call to PyGILState_Release(). In general, other thread-related APIs may be used between PyGILState_Ensure() and PyGILState_Release() calls as long as the thread state is restored to its previous state before the Release(). For example, normal usage of the Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS and Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS macros is acceptable.

The return value is an opaque “handle” to the thread state when PyGILState_Ensure() was called, and must be passed to PyGILState_Release() to ensure Python is left in the same state. Even though recursive calls are allowed, these handles cannot be shared - each unique call to PyGILState_Ensure() must save the handle for its call to PyGILState_Release().

When the function returns, the current thread will hold the GIL and be able to call arbitrary Python code. Failure is a fatal error.

New in version 2.3.

void PyGILState_Release(PyGILState_STATE)¶

Release any resources previously acquired. After this call, Python’s state will be the same as it was prior to the corresponding PyGILState_Ensure() call (but generally this state will be unknown to the caller, hence the use of the GILState API).

Every call to PyGILState_Ensure() must be matched by a call to PyGILState_Release() on the same thread.

New in version 2.3.

PyThreadState* PyGILState_GetThisThreadState()¶

Get the current thread state for this thread. May return NULL if no GILState API has been used on the current thread. Note that the main thread always has such a thread-state, even if no auto-thread-state call has been made on the main thread. This is mainly a helper/diagnostic function.

New in version 2.3.

The following macros are normally used without a trailing semicolon; look for example usage in the Python source distribution.

Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS¶

This macro expands to { PyThreadState *_save; _save = PyEval_SaveThread();. Note that it contains an opening brace; it must be matched with a following Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS macro. See above for further discussion of this macro. It is a no-op when thread support is disabled at compile time.

Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS¶

This macro expands to PyEval_RestoreThread(_save); }. Note that it contains a closing brace; it must be matched with an earlier Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS macro. See above for further discussion of this macro. It is a no-op when thread support is disabled at compile time.

Py_BLOCK_THREADS¶

This macro expands to PyEval_RestoreThread(_save);: it is equivalent to Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS without the closing brace. It is a no-op when thread support is disabled at compile time.

Py_UNBLOCK_THREADS¶

This macro expands to _save = PyEval_SaveThread();: it is equivalent to Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS without the opening brace and variable declaration. It is a no-op when thread support is disabled at compile time.

8.3.4. Low-level API¶

All of the following functions are only available when thread support is enabled at compile time, and must be called only when the global interpreter lock has been created.

PyInterpreterState* PyInterpreterState_New()¶

Create a new interpreter state object. The global interpreter lock need not be held, but may be held if it is necessary to serialize calls to this function.

void PyInterpreterState_Clear(PyInterpreterState *interp)¶

Reset all information in an interpreter state object. The global interpreter lock must be held.

void PyInterpreterState_Delete(PyInterpreterState *interp)¶

Destroy an interpreter state object. The global interpreter lock need not be held. The interpreter state must have been reset with a previous call to PyInterpreterState_Clear().

PyThreadState* PyThreadState_New(PyInterpreterState *interp)¶

Create a new thread state object belonging to the given interpreter object. The global interpreter lock need not be held, but may be held if it is necessary to serialize calls to this function.

void PyThreadState_Clear(PyThreadState *tstate)¶

Reset all information in a thread state object. The global interpreter lock must be held.

void PyThreadState_Delete(PyThreadState *tstate)¶

Destroy a thread state object. The global interpreter lock need not be held. The thread state must have been reset with a previous call to PyThreadState_Clear().

PyObject* PyThreadState_GetDict()¶

Return a dictionary in which extensions can store thread-specific state information. Each extension should use a unique key to use to store state in the dictionary. It is okay to call this function when no current thread state is available. If this function returns NULL, no exception has been raised and the caller should assume no current thread state is available.

Changed in version 2.3: Previously this could only be called when a current thread is active, and NULL meant that an exception was raised.

int PyThreadState_SetAsyncExc(long id, PyObject *exc)¶

Asynchronously raise an exception in a thread. The id argument is the thread id of the target thread; exc is the exception object to be raised. This function does not steal any references to exc. To prevent naive misuse, you must write your own C extension to call this. Must be called with the GIL held. Returns the number of thread states modified; this is normally one, but will be zero if the thread id isn’t found. If exc is NULL, the pending exception (if any) for the thread is cleared. This raises no exceptions.

New in version 2.3.

void PyEval_AcquireThread(PyThreadState *tstate)¶

Acquire the global interpreter lock and set the current thread state to tstate, which should not be NULL. The lock must have been created earlier. If this thread already has the lock, deadlock ensues.

PyEval_RestoreThread() is a higher-level function which is always available (even when thread support isn’t enabled or when threads have not been initialized).

void PyEval_ReleaseThread(PyThreadState *tstate)¶

Reset the current thread state to NULL and release the global interpreter lock. The lock must have been created earlier and must be held by the current thread. The tstate argument, which must not be NULL, is only used to check that it represents the current thread state — if it isn’t, a fatal error is reported.

PyEval_SaveThread() is a higher-level function which is always available (even when thread support isn’t enabled or when threads have not been initialized).

void PyEval_AcquireLock()¶

Acquire the global interpreter lock. The lock must have been created earlier. If this thread already has the lock, a deadlock ensues.

Warning

This function does not change the current thread state. Please use PyEval_RestoreThread() or PyEval_AcquireThread() instead.

void PyEval_ReleaseLock()¶

Release the global interpreter lock. The lock must have been created earlier.

Warning

This function does not change the current thread state. Please use PyEval_SaveThread() or PyEval_ReleaseThread() instead.

8.4.1. Bugs and caveats¶

Because sub-interpreters (and the main interpreter) are part of the same process, the insulation between them isn’t perfect — for example, using low-level file operations like os.close() they can (accidentally or maliciously) affect each other’s open files. Because of the way extensions are shared between (sub-)interpreters, some extensions may not work properly; this is especially likely when the extension makes use of (static) global variables, or when the extension manipulates its module’s dictionary after its initialization. It is possible to insert objects created in one sub-interpreter into a namespace of another sub-interpreter; this should be done with great care to avoid sharing user-defined functions, methods, instances or classes between sub-interpreters, since import operations executed by such objects may affect the wrong (sub-)interpreter’s dictionary of loaded modules.

Also note that combining this functionality with PyGILState_*() APIs is delicate, because these APIs assume a bijection between Python thread states and OS-level threads, an assumption broken by the presence of sub-interpreters. It is highly recommended that you don’t switch sub-interpreters between a pair of matching PyGILState_Ensure() and PyGILState_Release() calls. Furthermore, extensions (such as ctypes) using these APIs to allow calling of Python code from non-Python created threads will probably be broken when using sub-interpreters.