summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/Doc/library/concurrent.futures.rst
blob: d85576b8bedd8ee26a92ceb9ab113ed85ffaf4fa (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
:mod:`concurrent.futures` --- Launching parallel tasks
======================================================

.. module:: concurrent.futures
   :synopsis: Execute computations concurrently using threads or processes.

.. versionadded:: 3.2

**Source code:** :source:`Lib/concurrent/futures/thread.py`
and :source:`Lib/concurrent/futures/process.py`

--------------

The :mod:`concurrent.futures` module provides a high-level interface for
asynchronously executing callables.

The asynchronous execution can be performed with threads, using
:class:`ThreadPoolExecutor`, or separate processes, using
:class:`ProcessPoolExecutor`.  Both implement the same interface, which is
defined by the abstract :class:`Executor` class.


Executor Objects
----------------

.. class:: Executor

   An abstract class that provides methods to execute calls asynchronously.  It
   should not be used directly, but through its concrete subclasses.

    .. method:: submit(fn, *args, **kwargs)

       Schedules the callable, *fn*, to be executed as ``fn(*args **kwargs)``
       and returns a :class:`Future` object representing the execution of the
       callable. ::

          with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1) as executor:
              future = executor.submit(pow, 323, 1235)
              print(future.result())

    .. method:: map(func, *iterables, timeout=None, chunksize=1)

       Equivalent to :func:`map(func, *iterables) <map>` except *func* is executed
       asynchronously and several calls to *func* may be made concurrently.  The
       returned iterator raises a :exc:`concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` if
       :meth:`~iterator.__next__` is called and the result isn't available
       after *timeout* seconds from the original call to :meth:`Executor.map`.
       *timeout* can be an int or a float.  If *timeout* is not specified or
       ``None``, there is no limit to the wait time.  If a call raises an
       exception, then that exception will be raised when its value is
       retrieved from the iterator. When using :class:`ProcessPoolExecutor`, this
       method chops *iterables* into a number of chunks which it submits to the
       pool as separate tasks. The (approximate) size of these chunks can be
       specified by setting *chunksize* to a positive integer. For very long
       iterables, using a large value for *chunksize* can significantly improve
       performance compared to the default size of 1. With :class:`ThreadPoolExecutor`,
       *chunksize* has no effect.

       .. versionchanged:: 3.5
          Added the *chunksize* argument.

    .. method:: shutdown(wait=True)

       Signal the executor that it should free any resources that it is using
       when the currently pending futures are done executing.  Calls to
       :meth:`Executor.submit` and :meth:`Executor.map` made after shutdown will
       raise :exc:`RuntimeError`.

       If *wait* is ``True`` then this method will not return until all the
       pending futures are done executing and the resources associated with the
       executor have been freed.  If *wait* is ``False`` then this method will
       return immediately and the resources associated with the executor will be
       freed when all pending futures are done executing.  Regardless of the
       value of *wait*, the entire Python program will not exit until all
       pending futures are done executing.

       You can avoid having to call this method explicitly if you use the
       :keyword:`with` statement, which will shutdown the :class:`Executor`
       (waiting as if :meth:`Executor.shutdown` were called with *wait* set to
       ``True``)::

          import shutil
          with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4) as e:
              e.submit(shutil.copy, 'src1.txt', 'dest1.txt')
              e.submit(shutil.copy, 'src2.txt', 'dest2.txt')
              e.submit(shutil.copy, 'src3.txt', 'dest3.txt')
              e.submit(shutil.copy, 'src4.txt', 'dest4.txt')


ThreadPoolExecutor
------------------

:class:`ThreadPoolExecutor` is an :class:`Executor` subclass that uses a pool of
threads to execute calls asynchronously.

Deadlocks can occur when the callable associated with a :class:`Future` waits on
the results of another :class:`Future`.  For example::

   import time
   def wait_on_b():
       time.sleep(5)
       print(b.result())  # b will never complete because it is waiting on a.
       return 5

   def wait_on_a():
       time.sleep(5)
       print(a.result())  # a will never complete because it is waiting on b.
       return 6


   executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=2)
   a = executor.submit(wait_on_b)
   b = executor.submit(wait_on_a)

And::

   def wait_on_future():
       f = executor.submit(pow, 5, 2)
       # This will never complete because there is only one worker thread and
       # it is executing this function.
       print(f.result())

   executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1)
   executor.submit(wait_on_future)


.. class:: ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=None, thread_name_prefix='')

   An :class:`Executor` subclass that uses a pool of at most *max_workers*
   threads to execute calls asynchronously.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
      If *max_workers* is ``None`` or
      not given, it will default to the number of processors on the machine,
      multiplied by ``5``, assuming that :class:`ThreadPoolExecutor` is often
      used to overlap I/O instead of CPU work and the number of workers
      should be higher than the number of workers
      for :class:`ProcessPoolExecutor`.

   .. versionadded:: 3.6
      The *thread_name_prefix* argument was added to allow users to
      control the threading.Thread names for worker threads created by
      the pool for easier debugging.

.. _threadpoolexecutor-example:

ThreadPoolExecutor Example
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
::

   import concurrent.futures
   import urllib.request

   URLS = ['http://www.foxnews.com/',
           'http://www.cnn.com/',
           'http://europe.wsj.com/',
           'http://www.bbc.co.uk/',
           'http://some-made-up-domain.com/']

   # Retrieve a single page and report the URL and contents
   def load_url(url, timeout):
       with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=timeout) as conn:
           return conn.read()

   # We can use a with statement to ensure threads are cleaned up promptly
   with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=5) as executor:
       # Start the load operations and mark each future with its URL
       future_to_url = {executor.submit(load_url, url, 60): url for url in URLS}
       for future in concurrent.futures.as_completed(future_to_url):
           url = future_to_url[future]
           try:
               data = future.result()
           except Exception as exc:
               print('%r generated an exception: %s' % (url, exc))
           else:
               print('%r page is %d bytes' % (url, len(data)))


ProcessPoolExecutor
-------------------

The :class:`ProcessPoolExecutor` class is an :class:`Executor` subclass that
uses a pool of processes to execute calls asynchronously.
:class:`ProcessPoolExecutor` uses the :mod:`multiprocessing` module, which
allows it to side-step the :term:`Global Interpreter Lock` but also means that
only picklable objects can be executed and returned.

The ``__main__`` module must be importable by worker subprocesses. This means
that :class:`ProcessPoolExecutor` will not work in the interactive interpreter.

Calling :class:`Executor` or :class:`Future` methods from a callable submitted
to a :class:`ProcessPoolExecutor` will result in deadlock.

.. class:: ProcessPoolExecutor(max_workers=None)

   An :class:`Executor` subclass that executes calls asynchronously using a pool
   of at most *max_workers* processes.  If *max_workers* is ``None`` or not
   given, it will default to the number of processors on the machine.
   If *max_workers* is lower or equal to ``0``, then a :exc:`ValueError`
   will be raised.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.3
      When one of the worker processes terminates abruptly, a
      :exc:`BrokenProcessPool` error is now raised.  Previously, behaviour
      was undefined but operations on the executor or its futures would often
      freeze or deadlock.


.. _processpoolexecutor-example:

ProcessPoolExecutor Example
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
::

   import concurrent.futures
   import math

   PRIMES = [
       112272535095293,
       112582705942171,
       112272535095293,
       115280095190773,
       115797848077099,
       1099726899285419]

   def is_prime(n):
       if n % 2 == 0:
           return False

       sqrt_n = int(math.floor(math.sqrt(n)))
       for i in range(3, sqrt_n + 1, 2):
           if n % i == 0:
               return False
       return True

   def main():
       with concurrent.futures.ProcessPoolExecutor() as executor:
           for number, prime in zip(PRIMES, executor.map(is_prime, PRIMES)):
               print('%d is prime: %s' % (number, prime))

   if __name__ == '__main__':
       main()


Future Objects
--------------

The :class:`Future` class encapsulates the asynchronous execution of a callable.
:class:`Future` instances are created by :meth:`Executor.submit`.

.. class:: Future

   Encapsulates the asynchronous execution of a callable.  :class:`Future`
   instances are created by :meth:`Executor.submit` and should not be created
   directly except for testing.

    .. method:: cancel()

       Attempt to cancel the call.  If the call is currently being executed and
       cannot be cancelled then the method will return ``False``, otherwise the
       call will be cancelled and the method will return ``True``.

    .. method:: cancelled()

       Return ``True`` if the call was successfully cancelled.

    .. method:: running()

       Return ``True`` if the call is currently being executed and cannot be
       cancelled.

    .. method:: done()

       Return ``True`` if the call was successfully cancelled or finished
       running.

    .. method:: result(timeout=None)

       Return the value returned by the call. If the call hasn't yet completed
       then this method will wait up to *timeout* seconds.  If the call hasn't
       completed in *timeout* seconds, then a
       :exc:`concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` will be raised. *timeout* can be
       an int or float.  If *timeout* is not specified or ``None``, there is no
       limit to the wait time.

       If the future is cancelled before completing then :exc:`.CancelledError`
       will be raised.

       If the call raised, this method will raise the same exception.

    .. method:: exception(timeout=None)

       Return the exception raised by the call.  If the call hasn't yet
       completed then this method will wait up to *timeout* seconds.  If the
       call hasn't completed in *timeout* seconds, then a
       :exc:`concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` will be raised.  *timeout* can be
       an int or float.  If *timeout* is not specified or ``None``, there is no
       limit to the wait time.

       If the future is cancelled before completing then :exc:`.CancelledError`
       will be raised.

       If the call completed without raising, ``None`` is returned.

    .. method:: add_done_callback(fn)

       Attaches the callable *fn* to the future.  *fn* will be called, with the
       future as its only argument, when the future is cancelled or finishes
       running.

       Added callables are called in the order that they were added and are
       always called in a thread belonging to the process that added them.  If
       the callable raises an :exc:`Exception` subclass, it will be logged and
       ignored.  If the callable raises a :exc:`BaseException` subclass, the
       behavior is undefined.

       If the future has already completed or been cancelled, *fn* will be
       called immediately.

   The following :class:`Future` methods are meant for use in unit tests and
   :class:`Executor` implementations.

    .. method:: set_running_or_notify_cancel()

       This method should only be called by :class:`Executor` implementations
       before executing the work associated with the :class:`Future` and by unit
       tests.

       If the method returns ``False`` then the :class:`Future` was cancelled,
       i.e. :meth:`Future.cancel` was called and returned `True`.  Any threads
       waiting on the :class:`Future` completing (i.e. through
       :func:`as_completed` or :func:`wait`) will be woken up.

       If the method returns ``True`` then the :class:`Future` was not cancelled
       and has been put in the running state, i.e. calls to
       :meth:`Future.running` will return `True`.

       This method can only be called once and cannot be called after
       :meth:`Future.set_result` or :meth:`Future.set_exception` have been
       called.

    .. method:: set_result(result)

       Sets the result of the work associated with the :class:`Future` to
       *result*.

       This method should only be used by :class:`Executor` implementations and
       unit tests.

    .. method:: set_exception(exception)

       Sets the result of the work associated with the :class:`Future` to the
       :class:`Exception` *exception*.

       This method should only be used by :class:`Executor` implementations and
       unit tests.


Module Functions
----------------

.. function:: wait(fs, timeout=None, return_when=ALL_COMPLETED)

   Wait for the :class:`Future` instances (possibly created by different
   :class:`Executor` instances) given by *fs* to complete.  Returns a named
   2-tuple of sets.  The first set, named ``done``, contains the futures that
   completed (finished or were cancelled) before the wait completed.  The second
   set, named ``not_done``, contains uncompleted futures.

   *timeout* can be used to control the maximum number of seconds to wait before
   returning.  *timeout* can be an int or float.  If *timeout* is not specified
   or ``None``, there is no limit to the wait time.

   *return_when* indicates when this function should return.  It must be one of
   the following constants:

   .. tabularcolumns:: |l|L|

   +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
   | Constant                    | Description                            |
   +=============================+========================================+
   | :const:`FIRST_COMPLETED`    | The function will return when any      |
   |                             | future finishes or is cancelled.       |
   +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
   | :const:`FIRST_EXCEPTION`    | The function will return when any      |
   |                             | future finishes by raising an          |
   |                             | exception.  If no future raises an     |
   |                             | exception then it is equivalent to     |
   |                             | :const:`ALL_COMPLETED`.                |
   +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+
   | :const:`ALL_COMPLETED`      | The function will return when all      |
   |                             | futures finish or are cancelled.       |
   +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------+

.. function:: as_completed(fs, timeout=None)

   Returns an iterator over the :class:`Future` instances (possibly created by
   different :class:`Executor` instances) given by *fs* that yields futures as
   they complete (finished or were cancelled). Any futures given by *fs* that
   are duplicated will be returned once. Any futures that completed before
   :func:`as_completed` is called will be yielded first.  The returned iterator
   raises a :exc:`concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` if :meth:`~iterator.__next__`
   is called and the result isn't available after *timeout* seconds from the
   original call to :func:`as_completed`.  *timeout* can be an int or float. If
   *timeout* is not specified or ``None``, there is no limit to the wait time.


.. seealso::

   :pep:`3148` -- futures - execute computations asynchronously
      The proposal which described this feature for inclusion in the Python
      standard library.


Exception classes
-----------------

.. currentmodule:: concurrent.futures

.. exception:: CancelledError

   Raised when a future is cancelled.

.. exception:: TimeoutError

   Raised when a future operation exceeds the given timeout.

.. currentmodule:: concurrent.futures.process

.. exception:: BrokenProcessPool

   Derived from :exc:`RuntimeError`, this exception class is raised when
   one of the workers of a :class:`ProcessPoolExecutor` has terminated
   in a non-clean fashion (for example, if it was killed from the outside).

   .. versionadded:: 3.3