What is the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) in Python?

What is the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) in Python?

The Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) is a mutex that protects access to Python objects, preventing multiple threads from executing Python bytecodes simultaneously.

Why does Python have a GIL?

The GIL exists to simplify memory management in CPython, the standard implementation of Python, making it easier to handle memory allocation and deallocation.

How does the GIL affect multi-threading in Python?

The GIL can be a bottleneck in CPU-bound multi-threaded programs, as it allows only one thread to execute Python code at a time, limiting parallelism.

Are there any workarounds for the GIL?

Yes, you can use multiprocessing instead of threading, or leverage libraries like NumPy that release the GIL during heavy computations.