diff --git a/Doc/howto/a-conceptual-overview-of-asyncio.rst b/Doc/howto/a-conceptual-overview-of-asyncio.rst new file mode 100644 index 00000000000000..d68f7cc6921fc9 --- /dev/null +++ b/Doc/howto/a-conceptual-overview-of-asyncio.rst @@ -0,0 +1,606 @@ +.. _a-conceptual-overview-of-asyncio: + +**************************************** +A Conceptual Overview of :mod:`!asyncio` +**************************************** + +This :ref:`HOWTO ` article seeks to help you build a sturdy mental +model of how :mod:`asyncio` fundamentally works, helping you understand the +how and why behind the recommended patterns. + +You might be curious about some key :mod:`!asyncio` concepts. +You'll be comfortably able to answer these questions by the end of this +article: + +- What's happening behind the scenes when an object is awaited? +- How does :mod:`!asyncio` differentiate between a task which doesn't need + CPU-time (such as a network request or file read) as opposed to a task that + does (such as computing n-factorial)? +- How to write an asynchronous variant of an operation, such as + an async sleep or database request. + +.. seealso:: + + * The `guide `_ that inspired this HOWTO article, by Alexander Nordin. + * This in-depth `YouTube tutorial series `_ on + ``asyncio`` created by Python core team member, Ɓukasz Langa. + * `500 Lines or Less: A Web Crawler With asyncio Coroutines `_ by A. + Jesse Jiryu Davis and Guido van Rossum. + +-------------------------------------------- +A conceptual overview part 1: the high-level +-------------------------------------------- + +In part 1, we'll cover the main, high-level building blocks of :mod:`!asyncio`: +the event loop, coroutine functions, coroutine objects, tasks and ``await``. + +========== +Event Loop +========== + +Everything in :mod:`!asyncio` happens relative to the event loop. +It's the star of the show. +It's like an orchestra conductor. +It's behind the scenes managing resources. +Some power is explicitly granted to it, but a lot of its ability to get things +done comes from the respect and cooperation of its worker bees. + +In more technical terms, the event loop contains a collection of jobs to be run. +Some jobs are added directly by you, and some indirectly by :mod:`!asyncio`. +The event loop takes a job from its backlog of work and invokes it (or "gives +it control"), similar to calling a function, and then that job runs. +Once it pauses or completes, it returns control to the event loop. +The event loop will then select another job from its pool and invoke it. +You can *roughly* think of the collection of jobs as a queue: jobs are added and +then processed one at a time, generally (but not always) in order. +This process repeats indefinitely with the event loop cycling endlessly +onwards. +If there are no more jobs pending execution, the event loop is smart enough to +rest and avoid needlessly wasting CPU cycles, and will come back when there's +more work to be done. + +Effective execution relies on jobs sharing well and cooperating; a greedy job +could hog control and leave the other jobs to starve, rendering the overall +event loop approach rather useless. + +:: + + import asyncio + + # This creates an event loop and indefinitely cycles through + # its collection of jobs. + event_loop = asyncio.new_event_loop() + event_loop.run_forever() + +===================================== +Asynchronous functions and coroutines +===================================== + +This is a basic, boring Python function:: + + def hello_printer(): + print( + "Hi, I am a lowly, simple printer, though I have all I " + "need in life -- \nfresh paper and my dearly beloved octopus " + "partner in crime." + ) + +Calling a regular function invokes its logic or body:: + + >>> hello_printer() + Hi, I am a lowly, simple printer, though I have all I need in life -- + fresh paper and my dearly beloved octopus partner in crime. + +The :ref:`async def `, as opposed to just a plain ``def``, makes +this an asynchronous function (or "coroutine function"). +Calling it creates and returns a :ref:`coroutine ` object. + +:: + + async def loudmouth_penguin(magic_number: int): + print( + "I am a super special talking penguin. Far cooler than that printer. " + f"By the way, my lucky number is: {magic_number}." + ) + +Calling the async function, ``loudmouth_penguin``, does not execute the print statement; +instead, it creates a coroutine object:: + + >>> loudmouth_penguin(magic_number=3) + + +The terms "coroutine function" and "coroutine object" are often conflated +as coroutine. +That can be confusing! +In this article, coroutine specifically refers to a coroutine object, or more +precisely, an instance of :data:`types.CoroutineType` (native coroutine). +Note that coroutines can also exist as instances of +:class:`collections.abc.Coroutine` -- a distinction that matters for type +checking. + +A coroutine represents the function's body or logic. +A coroutine has to be explicitly started; again, merely creating the coroutine +does not start it. +Notably, the coroutine can be paused and resumed at various points within the +function's body. +That pausing and resuming ability is what allows for asynchronous behavior! + +Coroutines and coroutine functions were built by leveraging the functionality +of :term:`generators ` and +:term:`generator functions `. +Recall, a generator function is a function that :keyword:`yield`\s, like this +one:: + + def get_random_number(): + # This would be a bad random number generator! + print("Hi") + yield 1 + print("Hello") + yield 7 + print("Howdy") + yield 4 + ... + +Similar to a coroutine function, calling a generator function does not run it. +Instead, it creates a generator object:: + + >>> get_random_number() + + +You can proceed to the next ``yield`` of a generator by using the +built-in function :func:`next`. +In other words, the generator runs, then pauses. +For example:: + + >>> generator = get_random_number() + >>> next(generator) + Hi + 1 + >>> next(generator) + Hello + 7 + +===== +Tasks +===== + +Roughly speaking, :ref:`tasks ` are coroutines (not coroutine +functions) tied to an event loop. +A task also maintains a list of callback functions whose importance will become +clear in a moment when we discuss :keyword:`await`. +The recommended way to create tasks is via :func:`asyncio.create_task`. + +Creating a task automatically schedules it for execution (by adding a +callback to run it in the event loop's to-do list, that is, collection of jobs). + +Since there's only one event loop (in each thread), :mod:`!asyncio` takes care of +associating the task with the event loop for you. As such, there's no need +to specify the event loop. + +:: + + coroutine = loudmouth_penguin(magic_number=5) + # This creates a Task object and schedules its execution via the event loop. + task = asyncio.create_task(coroutine) + +Earlier, we manually created the event loop and set it to run forever. +In practice, it's recommended to use (and common to see) :func:`asyncio.run`, +which takes care of managing the event loop and ensuring the provided +coroutine finishes before advancing. +For example, many async programs follow this setup:: + + import asyncio + + async def main(): + # Perform all sorts of wacky, wild asynchronous things... + ... + + if __name__ == "__main__": + asyncio.run(main()) + # The program will not reach the following print statement until the + # coroutine main() finishes. + print("coroutine main() is done!") + +It's important to be aware that the task itself is not added to the event loop, +only a callback to the task is. +This matters if the task object you created is garbage collected before it's +called by the event loop. +For example, consider this program: + +.. code-block:: + :linenos: + + async def hello(): + print("hello!") + + async def main(): + asyncio.create_task(hello()) + # Other asynchronous instructions which run for a while + # and cede control to the event loop... + ... + + asyncio.run(main()) + +Because there's no reference to the task object created on line 5, it *might* +be garbage collected before the event loop invokes it. +Later instructions in the coroutine ``main()`` hand control back to the event +loop so it can invoke other jobs. +When the event loop eventually tries to run the task, it might fail and +discover the task object does not exist! +This can also happen even if a coroutine keeps a reference to a task but +completes before that task finishes. +When the coroutine exits, local variables go out of scope and may be subject +to garbage collection. +In practice, ``asyncio`` and Python's garbage collector work pretty hard to +ensure this sort of thing doesn't happen. +But that's no reason to be reckless! + +===== +await +===== + +:keyword:`await` is a Python keyword that's commonly used in one of two +different ways:: + + await task + await coroutine + +In a crucial way, the behavior of ``await`` depends on the type of object +being awaited. + +Awaiting a task will cede control from the current task or coroutine to +the event loop. +In the process of relinquishing control, a few important things happen. +We'll use the following code example to illustrate:: + + async def plant_a_tree(): + dig_the_hole_task = asyncio.create_task(dig_the_hole()) + await dig_the_hole_task + + # Other instructions associated with planting a tree. + ... + +In this example, imagine the event loop has passed control to the start of the +coroutine ``plant_a_tree()``. +As seen above, the coroutine creates a task and then awaits it. +The ``await dig_the_hole_task`` instruction adds a callback (which will resume +``plant_a_tree()``) to the ``dig_the_hole_task`` object's list of callbacks. +And then, the instruction cedes control to the event loop. +Some time later, the event loop will pass control to ``dig_the_hole_task`` +and the task will finish whatever it needs to do. +Once the task finishes, it will add its various callbacks to the event loop, +in this case, a call to resume ``plant_a_tree()``. + +Generally speaking, when the awaited task finishes (``dig_the_hole_task``), +the original task or coroutine (``plant_a_tree()``) is added back to the event +loops to-do list to be resumed. + +This is a basic, yet reliable mental model. +In practice, the control handoffs are slightly more complex, but not by much. +In part 2, we'll walk through the details that make this possible. + +**Unlike tasks, awaiting a coroutine does not hand control back to the event +loop!** +Wrapping a coroutine in a task first, then awaiting that would cede +control. +The behavior of ``await coroutine`` is effectively the same as invoking a +regular, synchronous Python function. +Consider this program:: + + import asyncio + + async def coro_a(): + print("I am coro_a(). Hi!") + + async def coro_b(): + print("I am coro_b(). I sure hope no one hogs the event loop...") + + async def main(): + task_b = asyncio.create_task(coro_b()) + num_repeats = 3 + for _ in range(num_repeats): + await coro_a() + await task_b + + asyncio.run(main()) + +The first statement in the coroutine ``main()`` creates ``task_b`` and schedules +it for execution via the event loop. +Then, ``coro_a()`` is repeatedly awaited. Control never cedes to the +event loop which is why we see the output of all three ``coro_a()`` +invocations before ``coro_b()``'s output: + +.. code-block:: none + + I am coro_a(). Hi! + I am coro_a(). Hi! + I am coro_a(). Hi! + I am coro_b(). I sure hope no one hogs the event loop... + +If we change ``await coro_a()`` to ``await asyncio.create_task(coro_a())``, the +behavior changes. +The coroutine ``main()`` cedes control to the event loop with that statement. +The event loop then proceeds through its backlog of work, calling ``task_b`` +and then the task which wraps ``coro_a()`` before resuming the coroutine +``main()``. + +.. code-block:: none + + I am coro_b(). I sure hope no one hogs the event loop... + I am coro_a(). Hi! + I am coro_a(). Hi! + I am coro_a(). Hi! + +This behavior of ``await coroutine`` can trip a lot of people up! +That example highlights how using only ``await coroutine`` could +unintentionally hog control from other tasks and effectively stall the event +loop. +:func:`asyncio.run` can help you detect such occurences via the +``debug=True`` flag which accordingly enables +:ref:`debug mode `. +Among other things, it will log any coroutines that monopolize execution for +100ms or longer. + +The design intentionally trades off some conceptual clarity around usage of +``await`` for improved performance. +Each time a task is awaited, control needs to be passed all the way up the +call stack to the event loop. +That might sound minor, but in a large program with many ``await``'s and a deep +callstack that overhead can add up to a meaningful performance drag. + +------------------------------------------------ +A conceptual overview part 2: the nuts and bolts +------------------------------------------------ + +Part 2 goes into detail on the mechanisms :mod:`!asyncio` uses to manage +control flow. +This is where the magic happens. +You'll come away from this section knowing what ``await`` does behind the scenes +and how to make your own asynchronous operators. + +================================ +The inner workings of coroutines +================================ + +:mod:`!asyncio` leverages four components to pass around control. + +:meth:`coroutine.send(arg) ` is the method used to start or +resume a coroutine. +If the coroutine was paused and is now being resumed, the argument ``arg`` +will be sent in as the return value of the ``yield`` statement which originally +paused it. +If the coroutine is being used for the first time (as opposed to being resumed) +``arg`` must be ``None``. + +.. code-block:: + :linenos: + + class Rock: + def __await__(self): + value_sent_in = yield 7 + print(f"Rock.__await__ resuming with value: {value_sent_in}.") + return value_sent_in + + async def main(): + print("Beginning coroutine main().") + rock = Rock() + print("Awaiting rock...") + value_from_rock = await rock + print(f"Coroutine received value: {value_from_rock} from rock.") + return 23 + + coroutine = main() + intermediate_result = coroutine.send(None) + print(f"Coroutine paused and returned intermediate value: {intermediate_result}.") + + print(f"Resuming coroutine and sending in value: 42.") + try: + coroutine.send(42) + except StopIteration as e: + returned_value = e.value + print(f"Coroutine main() finished and provided value: {returned_value}.") + +:ref:`yield `, like usual, pauses execution and returns control +to the caller. +In the example above, the ``yield``, on line 3, is called by +``... = await rock`` on line 11. +More broadly speaking, ``await`` calls the :meth:`~object.__await__` method of +the given object. +``await`` also does one more very special thing: it propagates (or "passes +along") any ``yield``\ s it receives up the call-chain. +In this case, that's back to ``... = coroutine.send(None)`` on line 16. + +The coroutine is resumed via the ``coroutine.send(42)`` call on line 21. +The coroutine picks back up from where it ``yield``\ ed (or paused) on line 3 +and executes the remaining statements in its body. +When a coroutine finishes, it raises a :exc:`StopIteration` exception with the +return value attached in the :attr:`~StopIteration.value` attribute. + +That snippet produces this output: + +.. code-block:: none + + Beginning coroutine main(). + Awaiting rock... + Coroutine paused and returned intermediate value: 7. + Resuming coroutine and sending in value: 42. + Rock.__await__ resuming with value: 42. + Coroutine received value: 42 from rock. + Coroutine main() finished and provided value: 23. + +It's worth pausing for a moment here and making sure you followed the various +ways that control flow and values were passed. A lot of important ideas were +covered and it's worth ensuring your understanding is firm. + +The only way to yield (or effectively cede control) from a coroutine is to +``await`` an object that ``yield``\ s in its ``__await__`` method. +That might sound odd to you. You might be thinking: + + 1. What about a ``yield`` directly within the coroutine function? The + coroutine function becomes an + :ref:`async generator function `, a + different beast entirely. + + 2. What about a :ref:`yield from ` within the coroutine function to a (plain) + generator? + That causes the error: ``SyntaxError: yield from not allowed in a coroutine.`` + This was intentionally designed for the sake of simplicity -- mandating only + one way of using coroutines. + Initially ``yield`` was barred as well, but was re-accepted to allow for + async generators. + Despite that, ``yield from`` and ``await`` effectively do the same thing. + +======= +Futures +======= + +A :ref:`future ` is an object meant to represent a +computation's status and result. +The term is a nod to the idea of something still to come or not yet happened, +and the object is a way to keep an eye on that something. + +A future has a few important attributes. One is its state which can be either +"pending", "cancelled" or "done". +Another is its result, which is set when the state transitions to done. +Unlike a coroutine, a future does not represent the actual computation to be +done; instead, it represents the status and result of that computation, kind of +like a status light (red, yellow or green) or indicator. + +:class:`asyncio.Task` subclasses :class:`asyncio.Future` in order to gain +these various capabilities. +The prior section said tasks store a list of callbacks, which wasn't entirely +accurate. +It's actually the ``Future`` class that implements this logic, which ``Task`` +inherits. + +Futures may also be used directly (not via tasks). +Tasks mark themselves as done when their coroutine is complete. +Futures are much more versatile and will be marked as done when you say so. +In this way, they're the flexible interface for you to make your own conditions +for waiting and resuming. + +======================== +A homemade asyncio.sleep +======================== + +We'll go through an example of how you could leverage a future to create your +own variant of asynchronous sleep (``async_sleep``) which mimics +:func:`asyncio.sleep`. + +This snippet registers a few tasks with the event loop and then awaits a +coroutine wrapped in a task: ``async_sleep(3)``. +We want that task to finish only after three seconds have elapsed, but without +preventing other tasks from running. + +:: + + async def other_work(): + print("I like work. Work work.") + + async def main(): + # Add a few other tasks to the event loop, so there's something + # to do while asynchronously sleeping. + work_tasks = [ + asyncio.create_task(other_work()), + asyncio.create_task(other_work()), + asyncio.create_task(other_work()) + ] + print( + "Beginning asynchronous sleep at time: " + f"{datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M:%S")}." + ) + await asyncio.create_task(async_sleep(3)) + print( + "Done asynchronous sleep at time: " + f"{datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M:%S")}." + ) + # asyncio.gather effectively awaits each task in the collection. + await asyncio.gather(*work_tasks) + + +Below, we use a future to enable custom control over when that task will be +marked as done. +If :meth:`future.set_result() ` (the method +responsible for marking that future as done) is never called, then this task +will never finish. +We've also enlisted the help of another task, which we'll see in a moment, that +will monitor how much time has elapsed and, accordingly, call +``future.set_result()``. + +:: + + async def async_sleep(seconds: float): + future = asyncio.Future() + time_to_wake = time.time() + seconds + # Add the watcher-task to the event loop. + watcher_task = asyncio.create_task(_sleep_watcher(future, time_to_wake)) + # Block until the future is marked as done. + await future + +Below, we'll use a rather bare object, ``YieldToEventLoop()``, to ``yield`` +from ``__await__`` in order to cede control to the event loop. +This is effectively the same as calling ``asyncio.sleep(0)``, but this approach +offers more clarity, not to mention it's somewhat cheating to use +``asyncio.sleep`` when showcasing how to implement it! + +As usual, the event loop cycles through its tasks, giving them control +and receiving control back when they pause or finish. +The ``watcher_task``, which runs the coroutine ``_sleep_watcher(...)``, will +be invoked once per full cycle of the event loop. +On each resumption, it'll check the time and if not enough has elapsed, then +it'll pause once again and hand control back to the event loop. +Eventually, enough time will have elapsed, and ``_sleep_watcher(...)`` will +mark the future as done, and then itself finish too by breaking out of the +infinite ``while`` loop. +Given this helper task is only invoked once per cycle of the event loop, +you'd be correct to note that this asynchronous sleep will sleep *at least* +three seconds, rather than exactly three seconds. +Note this is also of true of ``asyncio.sleep``. + +:: + + class YieldToEventLoop: + def __await__(self): + yield + + async def _sleep_watcher(future, time_to_wake): + while True: + if time.time() >= time_to_wake: + # This marks the future as done. + future.set_result(None) + break + else: + await YieldToEventLoop() + +Here is the full program's output: + +.. code-block:: none + + $ python custom-async-sleep.py + Beginning asynchronous sleep at time: 14:52:22. + I like work. Work work. + I like work. Work work. + I like work. Work work. + Done asynchronous sleep at time: 14:52:25. + +You might feel this implementation of asynchronous sleep was unnecessarily +convoluted. +And, well, it was. +The example was meant to showcase the versatility of futures with a simple +example that could be mimicked for more complex needs. +For reference, you could implement it without futures, like so:: + + async def simpler_async_sleep(seconds): + time_to_wake = time.time() + seconds + while True: + if time.time() >= time_to_wake: + return + else: + await YieldToEventLoop() + +But, that's all for now. Hopefully you're ready to more confidently dive into +some async programming or check out advanced topics in the +:mod:`rest of the documentation `. diff --git a/Doc/howto/index.rst b/Doc/howto/index.rst index f350141004c2db..81fc7e63f35bd7 100644 --- a/Doc/howto/index.rst +++ b/Doc/howto/index.rst @@ -1,3 +1,5 @@ +.. _how-tos: + *************** Python HOWTOs *************** @@ -11,6 +13,7 @@ Python Library Reference. :maxdepth: 1 :hidden: + a-conceptual-overview-of-asyncio.rst cporting.rst curses.rst descriptor.rst @@ -38,6 +41,7 @@ Python Library Reference. General: +* :ref:`a-conceptual-overview-of-asyncio` * :ref:`annotations-howto` * :ref:`argparse-tutorial` * :ref:`descriptorhowto` diff --git a/Doc/library/asyncio-future.rst b/Doc/library/asyncio-future.rst index 32771ba72e0002..4b69e569523c58 100644 --- a/Doc/library/asyncio-future.rst +++ b/Doc/library/asyncio-future.rst @@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ Future Functions Deprecation warning is emitted if *future* is not a Future-like object and *loop* is not specified and there is no running event loop. +.. _asyncio-future-obj: Future Object ============= diff --git a/Doc/library/asyncio-task.rst b/Doc/library/asyncio-task.rst index b19ffa8213a971..f825ae92ec7471 100644 --- a/Doc/library/asyncio-task.rst +++ b/Doc/library/asyncio-task.rst @@ -1193,6 +1193,7 @@ Introspection .. versionadded:: 3.4 +.. _asyncio-task-obj: Task Object =========== diff --git a/Doc/library/asyncio.rst b/Doc/library/asyncio.rst index 7d368dae49dc1d..444db01390d922 100644 --- a/Doc/library/asyncio.rst +++ b/Doc/library/asyncio.rst @@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ database connection libraries, distributed task queues, etc. asyncio is often a perfect fit for IO-bound and high-level **structured** network code. +.. seealso:: + + :ref:`a-conceptual-overview-of-asyncio` + Explanation of the fundamentals of asyncio. + asyncio provides a set of **high-level** APIs to: * :ref:`run Python coroutines ` concurrently and pFad - Phonifier reborn

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