On Tue, 10 May 2022 at 16:31, Barney Stratford <barney_stratf...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > > Hello all. > > It occurs to me that creating threads in Python is more awkward than it needs > to be. Every time I want to start a new thread, I end up writing the same > thing over and over again: > > def target(*args, **kwds): > ... > t = threading.Thread(target = target, args = <something>, kwargs= <something>) > t.start() > > This becomes especially repetitive when calling a target function that only > makes sense when run in a new thread, such as a timer. > > In my own code, I’ve taken to decorating functions that always run in new > threads. Then I can call the function using the usual function call syntax, > and have the new thread returned to me. With the decorator, the code reads > instead: > > @threaded > def target(*args, **kwds): > … > t = target(*args, **kwds) > > This has a couple of advantages. I don’t have to import the threading module > all over my code. I can use the neater syntax of function calls. The > function’s definition makes it clear it’s returning a new thread since it’s > decorated. It gets the plumbing out of the way so I can concentrate more on > what my code does and less in how it does it. > > It feels like the right place for this decorator is the standard library, so > I’ve created PR #91878 for it. @rhettinger suggests that this is a bit > premature, and that we should discuss it here first. Thoughts?
I like this. I'd probably use it if it existed. Your example isn't particularly compelling, though - calling the function "target" makes sense when it's the target of the thread, but not so much when it's the thread itself. Could you give a motivating example based on real code, rather than just the "this is what the syntax would look like" as you did above? Ideally showing what it would look like with and without the decorator? Things I *think* i get, but I'd like to see clearly in an example, include: 1. Does t = target(...) start the thread? I think it does. 2. Is it possible to create daemon threads? @threaded(daemon=True) seems plausible. I suspect your PR doesn't have this, but it wouldn't be difficult to add. But I don't actually know if it's worth adding, TBH. 3. Can you create multiple threads for the same function? I assume t1, t2, t3 = target(arg1), target(arg2), target(arg3) would work. I'm probably being dense here - I'm pretty sure your proposal actually is as simple as it looks (which is a good thing!) and I'm just over-complicating things in my head. Paul _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list -- python-dev@python.org To unsubscribe send an email to python-dev-le...@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman3/lists/python-dev.python.org/ Message archived at https://mail.python.org/archives/list/python-dev@python.org/message/FVETRDHASCD4ZYJ5YQG77LTG7R6TLIZO/ Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/
