Python's Infamous GIL

Explore Python's Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) in this informative conference talk from EuroPython 2015. Delve into the history, benefits, and drawbacks of the GIL, and understand its impact on multithreaded programming. Learn about the problems it solves and causes, as well as the challenges involved in removing it. Gain insights into topics such as reference counting, deadlocks, I/O bound code sharing, and the evolution of the GIL from Python 2.7 to the "new GIL." Discover how the GIL affects Python's performance across multiple cores and examine potential solutions like the "free-threading" patch, atomic operations, and modern language virtual machines. Suitable for those familiar with multithreaded programming concepts and comfortable with basic C code examples.