Does running separate python processes avoid the GIL?

Question

I\'m curious in how the Global Interpreter Lock in python actually works. If I have a c++ application launch four separate instances of a python script will they run in para

Answer 1

As Alex Martelli points out you can indeed avoid the GIL by running multiple processes, I just want to add and point out that the GIL is a limitation of the implementation (CPython) and not of Python in general, it's possible to implement Python without this limitation. Stackless Python comes to mind.

Answer 2

The GIL only affects threads within a single process. The multiprocessing module is in fact an alternative to threading that lets Python programs use multiple cores &c. Your scenario will easily allow use of multiple cores, too.