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Larry Hastings - Removing Python's GIL: The Gilectomy - PyCon 2016

PyCon 2016 · talk · Watch on YouTube

Python, Ruby & scripting languagesSoftware performance & optimizationOperating systems & kernels

What it is

Larry Hastings explains what Python's GIL is, what problems it solves and how it works, and presents his Gilectomy project to remove it, including the performance and C-extension obstacles.

Why Hacker News recommends it

The default reference in Python performance threads for why removing the GIL is hard.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 5 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2016, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “I think Larry Hasting's first Gilectomy talk was extremely insightful”

    Insightful on the GIL and performance when removing it.

    gshulegaard, 2017-08 · Strong recommendation · in “Let's Remove the Global Interpreter Lock”

  2. “See Larry Hastings' talk "Removing Python's GIL: The Gilectomy" from PyCon 2016.”

    Talk on the Gilectomy project to remove Python's GIL.

    tedmiston, 2016-07 · Recommendation · in “Why is Python slow”

  3. “It's 30m, but worth it if you're interested.”

    30-minute talk on removing Python's GIL.

    pfranz, 2017-03 · Recommendation · in “CPython internals: A ten-hour codewalk through the Python interpreter (2015)”

  4. “Or search “gilectomy” on LWN.”

    Pointer on the Gilectomy for questions about GIL removal.

    zbentley, 2018-10 · Recommendation · in “Questions”

  5. “There's a great talk by David Beazley”

    Great talk on why removing the GIL is hard.

    santiagobasulto, 2023-07 · Recommendation · in “Meta pledges Three-Year sponsorship for Python if GIL removal is accepted”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: python, gil, gilectomy, multithreading, cpython

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