What are the differences between pthreads and the threading module in Python?

What are the differences between pthreads and the threading module in Python?

Pthreads is a POSIX standard for threads in C/C++, while Python's threading module is a higher-level interface for threading in Python.

Can you explain how they handle concurrency?

Pthreads allows for true parallelism on multi-core systems, while Python's threading module is limited by the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL), which can restrict concurrent execution.

Which one should I use for a CPU-bound task?

For CPU-bound tasks, using pthreads in C/C++ would be more efficient due to the lack of GIL, allowing for better performance.

What about I/O-bound tasks?

For I/O-bound tasks, Python's threading module is often sufficient, as it can handle multiple I/O operations concurrently without being blocked by the GIL.