Threading, real or simulated?

[Jp Calderone]

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 18:23:33 -0500, Sam <sam at email-scan.com> wrote:
>I'm using Python 2.3.5 with pygtk 2.4.1, and I'm using the second threading 
>approach from pygtk's FAQ 20.6 - invoking "gtk.gdk.threads_init()", and 
>wrapping all gtk/gdk function calls with 
>gtk.threads_enter()/gtk.threads_leave()
>
>I start a thread, via thread.Threading.start().  The thread then calls a 
>particularly time consuming C function, from an extension module.  I find 
>that when the thread is running the C code, the GUI hangs even though I'm 
>not inside the threads_enter/threads_leave territory.
>

  Does the extension module release the GIL?  It sounds like it does not.  Of course, there are a dozen other mistakes that could be made which would have roughly this symptom.  It's difficult to say which is the problem without actually seeing any code.

>It looks like thread.Threading() only simulates threading, by having the 
>python interpreter multiplex between running threads.  Is real threading 
>possible, so that I do something time-consuming in the thread, without 
>hanging the GUI?
>

Assuming you mean threading.Thread, this is a native thread.  It is not a simulation.  Something else is going wrong.

Jp