How do I use thread pools in programming?

What are thread pools and how do I use them in my application?

Thread pools are a collection of pre-initialized threads that can be reused for executing tasks. They help manage multiple threads efficiently.

Why should I use a thread pool instead of creating new threads for each task?

Using a thread pool reduces the overhead of thread creation and destruction, leading to better performance and resource management.

Can you show me an example of how to implement a thread pool in Python?

Sure! You can use the concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor class. Here's a simple example:

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor

def task(n):
    return n * n

with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=5) as executor:
    results = list(executor.map(task, range(10)))
print(results)

What are some common pitfalls when using thread pools?

Common pitfalls include not managing the number of threads properly, leading to resource exhaustion, and not handling exceptions in tasks.