On Python

by JS

I no longer choose to use Python. One day I decided to spend a couple of hours parallelizing some code for a new dual core machine. Than I discovered the GIL. From the Python list circa 2004:

I've said it before.  One day enough people will think that the GIL is
a problem big enough to warrant a solution, e.g., when the majority of
systems where CPython runs have more than one CPU.  Until then we have
to go back to early 90s programming and use IPC (interprocess
communication) to scale applications that want to run PURE python code
on more than one CPU.

That day has come to pass.

UPDATE: Though the lack of true threads is still a concern, I’ve found working with the latest iteration of numpy to be much easier than alternatives like Matlab or R. The truth: syntax matters.