Python GIL 系列之通过设置进程运行的CPU来提高Python程序的性能

        通过《通过实例认识Python的GIL》 ,《再谈Python的GIL》 ,《再谈Python的GIL（续）》已经基本上认识到了 Python的线程在多核情况下的性能是比较低的，但是在单核情况就就没有这个问题，难道就没有一个好的办法让Python的线程在多核情况下像单核情况下表现卓越吗？答案是有的，那就是限制Python在指定的CPU上运行。

在Windows下，有个函数可以指定进程在指定的CPU上运行：SetProcessAffinityMask

 

BOOL WINAPI SetProcessAffinityMask(
  _In_  HANDLE hProcess,
  _In_  DWORD_PTR dwProcessAffinityMask
);

dwProcessAffinityMask用于指定运行的CPU，比如1表示在CPU 0上运行，2表示在CPU 1上运行,3表示在CPU 0 和CPU 1上运行。

接下来看下怎么实现：

utility.pyx

cdef extern from "Windows.h":
    ctypedef int BOOL
    ctypedef void * HANDLE    
    ctypedef unsigned long DWORD_PTR
    int SetProcessAffinityMask(HANDLE hProcess,DWORD_PTR dwProcessAffinityMask) nogil
    HANDLE GetCurrentProcess() nogil

def SetAffinity(int mask):
    with nogil:
        SetProcessAffinityMask(<HANDLE>GetCurrentProcess(),mask)

Setup.py

 

from distutils.core import setup
from distutils.extension import Extension
from Cython.Build import cythonize

ext = Extension("utility", 
                    define_macros = [('MAJOR_VERSION', '1'),
                                     ('MINOR_VERSION', '0')],
                    sources = ["utility.pyx", ])

setup(
    name = 'callback',
    version = '1.0',
    description = 'This is a callback demo package',
    author = '',
    author_email = '[email protected]',
    url = '',
    long_description = '',
    ext_modules=cythonize([ext,]),
)

编译生成utility.pyd：

python Setup.py build_ext --inplace

 

再看下测试用例：

count.py

from threading import Thread
from threading import Event as TEvent
from multiprocessing import Process
from multiprocessing import Event as PEvent

import utility
utility.SetAffinity(1)

from timeit import Timer
import sys
sys.setcheckinterval(100) #(100000)
def countdown(n,event):
    while n > 0:
        n -= 1
    event.set()

def io_op(n,event,filename):
    f = open(filename,'w')
    while not event.is_set():
        f.write('hello,world')
    f.close()

def t1():
    COUNT=100000000
    event = TEvent()
    thread1 = Thread(target=countdown,args=(COUNT,event))
    thread1.start()
    thread1.join()

def t2():
    COUNT=100000000
    event = TEvent()
    thread1 = Thread(target=countdown,args=(COUNT//2,event))
    thread2 = Thread(target=countdown,args=(COUNT//2,event))
    thread1.start(); thread2.start()
    thread1.join(); thread2.join()

def t3():
    COUNT=100000000
    event = PEvent()
    p1 = Process(target=countdown,args=(COUNT//2,event))
    p2 = Process(target=countdown,args=(COUNT//2,event))
    p1.start(); p2.start()
    p1.join(); p2.join()


def t4():
    COUNT=100000000 
    event = TEvent()
    thread1 = Thread(target=countdown,args=(COUNT,event))
    thread2 = Thread(target=io_op,args=(COUNT,event,'thread.txt'))
    thread1.start(); thread2.start()
    thread1.join(); thread2.join()

def t5():
    COUNT=100000000 
    event = PEvent()
    p1 = Process(target=countdown,args=(COUNT,event))
    p2 = Process(target=io_op,args=(COUNT,event,'process.txt'))
    p1.start(); p2.start()
    p1.join(); p2.join()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    t = Timer(t1)
    print('countdown in one thread:%f'%(t.timeit(1),))
    t = Timer(t2)
    print('countdown use two thread:%f'%(t.timeit(1),))
    t = Timer(t3)
    print('countdown use two Process:%f'%(t.timeit(1),))

    t = Timer(t4)
    print('countdown in one thread with io op in another thread:%f'%(t.timeit(1),))

    t = Timer(t5)
    print('countdown in one process with io op in another process:%f'%(t.timeit(1),))

相对于之前的测试用例，加了两行代码：

import utility

utility.SetAffinity(1)

 我们来看下测试用例的输出：

countdown in one thread:7.005823
countdown use two thread:4.790538
countdown use two Process:4.936478
countdown in one thread with io op in another thread:9.526901
countdown in one process with io op in another process:9.262508

 

再对比一下之前在单核情况下的输出：

countdown in one thread:', 5.9650638561501195    

countdown use two thread:', 5.8188333656781595    

countdown use two Process', 6.197559396296269    

countdown in one thread with io op in another thread:', 11.369204522553051  

countdown in one process with io op in another process:', 11.79234388645473

 

由于这次测试时开的程序比较多，输出和之前有些差别，但是基本上是一致的。之前说要避免在多核情况下使用Thread，现在看来是错的了，只要限制进程运行的CPU即可。

 

在linux下，也可以用taskset命令来设置进程运行的CPU，这个以后再讨论。

 

从这篇文章我们可以得出一个结论：Python的GIL在多核CPU环境中的影响并没有之前想像的那么坏，在这个世界上，办法永远比困难多，就看你能不能坚持。