a soft real-time system using python

[Brian McErlean]

a-steinhoff at web.de (Armin Steinhoff) wrote in message news:<ddc19db7.0208010135.217b551 at posting.google.com>...
> > 
> > 
> > For further information, we're already having a certain problem where python 
> > threads seem to drastically decrease performance in the middle of the program 
> > for around a second. Garbage collection has been disabled, but it's possible 
> > that there is some other behind-the-scenes work that Python is doing.
> 
> If you are using extensively dictionaries ... Python is using then
> extensively malloc of your syetem, that means any performance issues
> of the malloc lib will be visible.
>
> Have also in mind that blocking IO calls are blocking the _whole_
> interpreter!
> Python threads are not _system level_ threads!!  
>
> Armin

Huh?  Python threading _is_ implemented using system level threads,
and performing blocking IO does _not_ block the whole interpreter
(Assuming the call releases the Global Interpreter Lock, which all the
builtin ones do)  You could potentially block the interpreter with a
custom C extension which performs a time-consuming task without
releasing the lock, but with the standard methods, blocking IO should
allow another thread to run.

Brian.