[SciPy-user] Re: [AstroPy] Re: gui/thread issues

[Fernando Perez]

Perry Greenfield wrote:
> On May 23, 2005, at 2:03 PM, David King wrote:
> 
>>In the short run, I would be ok just using Tk alone on IPython or plain
>>Python, although I'd be happiest having the whole picture.  In the 
>>long run,
>>our project will want to serve varied users, who will no doubt want to 
>>use
>>python in their own way.
>>
> 
> Note that Tkinter windows under the standard Python interpreter are 
> only 'alive' when the intepreter prompt is active. If you invoke a 
> function that takes a long time, the window will be unresponsive since 
> the Tk events are only handled within the Python interpreter loop. In 
> this respect IPython should have an advantage with threading.

Well, the advantage provided by ipython is that, in addition to Tk (which you 
get 'for free' with plain python), you can have interactive WX, GTK, and as of 
current CVS, also QT GUIs controlled from a command line.

The issues with the GIL are still there, so any long-running command which 
doesn't release the GIL will still block.  But it does give some advantages.

Regards,

f