What are some use cases for process pools in programming?

What are some use cases for process pools in programming?

Process pools are useful for managing multiple tasks concurrently, especially in CPU-bound operations. They can be used in web scraping, data processing, and parallel computations.

Can you give me an example of how to implement a process pool?

Sure! In Python, you can use the multiprocessing module. Here's a simple example:

from multiprocessing import Pool

def square(n):
    return n * n

if __name__ == '__main__':
    with Pool(4) as p:
        results = p.map(square, [1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
    print(results)

What are the advantages of using process pools over threads?

Process pools avoid the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) in Python, allowing true parallelism. They also provide better isolation between tasks, reducing the risk of data corruption.

Are there any limitations to using process pools?

Yes, process pools can have higher overhead due to the need to serialize data between processes. They are also less efficient for I/O-bound tasks compared to threads.