Is virtualenv a workaround for GIL?

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Haining Yu

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Aug 15, 2017, 2:41:41 PM8/15/17

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Hi,

If two python programs are running in two virtual environments on the same machine, are they processed by the same Global Interpreter Lock?

Thanks,

Haining

Carl Meyer

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Aug 15, 2017, 3:14:20 PM8/15/17

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On 08/15/2017 11:41 AM, Haining Yu wrote:
> If two python programs are running in two virtual environments on the
> same machine, are they processed by the same Global Interpreter Lock?

No. The GIL is per-interpreter, thus per-process. Two different Python
processes will each have their own GIL (and thus be able to run
concurrently on different CPU cores), even if they are running from the
same virtualenv.

So virtualenv is not a workaround for the GIL, it's irrelevant. But
running multiple Python processes is a workaround for the GIL.

Carl