GIL
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Programming
| Stands for | Global interpreter lock |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
GIL stands for Global interpreter lock, a programming abbreviation.
A lock in CPython, the standard Python interpreter, that lets only one thread execute Python bytecode at a time. It simplifies memory management but stops CPU-heavy threads from running in parallel on multiple cores.
Example: Threads won't speed up this number crunching because of the GIL; use multiprocessing instead.
Usage notes
PEP 703 led to an experimental free-threaded build of CPython 3.13 in 2024 that runs without the lock, and later releases moved it toward full support. Ruby's main interpreter has a similar lock called the GVL. Threaded code that mostly waits on I/O suffers less, because the lock is released while waiting.
Related abbreviations
More programming abbreviations
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- FSM – Finite-state machine
- GC – Garbage collection
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- GDB – GNU Debugger
- GoF – Gang of Four
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- GUID – Globally unique identifier
- HATEOAS – Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State
- i18n – Internationalization