Parallel(?) programming with python

[2QdxY4RzWzUUiLuE at potatochowder.com]

On 2022-08-09 at 17:04:51 +0000,
"Schachner, Joseph (US)" <Joseph.Schachner at Teledyne.com> wrote:

> Why would this application *require* parallel programming?  This could
> be done in one, single thread program.  Call time to get time and save
> it as start_time.  Keep a count of the number of 6 hour intervals,
> initialize it to 0.

In theory, you are correct.

In practice, [stuff] happens.  What if your program crashes?  Or the
computer crashes?  Or there's a Python update?  Or an OS update?  Where
does all that pending data go, and how will you recover it after you've
addressed whatever happened? ¹

OTOH, once you start writing the pending data to a file, then it's an
extremely simple leap to multiple programs (rather than multiple
threads) for all kinds of good reasons.

¹ FWIW, I used to develop highly available systems, such as telephone
switches, which allow [stuff] to happen, and yet continue to function.
It's pretty cool to yank a board (yes, physically remove it, without
warning) from the system without [apparently] disrupting anything.  Such
systems also allow for hardware, OS, and application upgrades, too
(IIRC, we were allowed a handful of seconds of downtime per year to meet
our availability requirements).  That said, designing and building such
a system for the sakes of simplicity and convenience of the application
we're talking about here would make a pretty good definition of
"overkill."