Alright, asyncio event loops! If you’re new to Python programming and have heard of this concept but don’t know what it means, we’ve got you covered. An asyncio event loop is a fancy way for Python to handle multiple tasks at once without blocking your main thread. Think of it like a traffic cop directing cars through an intersection, but instead of cars, we have tasks and the intersection is our CPU.
The event loop keeps track of all these tasks and makes sure they get executed in order while also allowing other tasks to run simultaneously. To create a new asyncio event loop object, you can use the `asyncio.new_event_loop()` function. This will return an event loop object that we can set as our current event loop for this thread using the `asyncio.set_event_loop(loop)` method.
Here’s some example code to get started:
# Import the asyncio module
import asyncio
# Define a function called my_task that prints a message
def my_task():
print("I am a task!")
# do some other stuff here...
# Create a new event loop object
my_loop = asyncio.new_event_loop()
# Set the current event loop for this thread
asyncio.set_event_loop(my_loop)
# Create a list of tasks using the ensure_future() function to convert the my_task() function into a coroutine
tasks = [asyncio.ensure_future(my_task())]
# Use the gather() function to run all tasks in the background
# The * operator is used to unpack the tasks list and pass each task as a separate argument to the gather() function
# The gather() function returns a future object that can be used to wait for all tasks to complete
# The run_until_complete() method is used to run the event loop until all tasks are complete
my_loop.run_until_complete(asyncio.gather(*tasks))
Asyncio event loops allow us to write more efficient and scalable code by taking advantage of non-blocking I/O operations. This means that instead of waiting for a slow database query or network request to finish before moving on to other tasks, we can continue executing other tasks in the meantime without any delays.
But wait there’s more! Asyncio event loops also allow us to write code that is easier to read and understand by using coroutines instead of callback functions. Coroutines are essentially lightweight functions that can be paused and resumed, making them perfect for handling asynchronous tasks. They look a lot like regular functions but with the `async` keyword in front:
# Import the asyncio library to use coroutines
import asyncio
# Define a coroutine function called my_coroutine
async def my_coroutine():
print("I am a coroutine!")
# do some other stuff here...
# Create an event loop object
loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
# Run the coroutine using the event loop and store the task in a variable
task = loop.run_until_complete(my_coroutine())
# The event loop will run the coroutine until it is complete and then return the result
# The task variable can be used to check the status of the coroutine or cancel it if needed
And that’s it you now have a basic understanding of how to use asyncio event loops in Python! Of course, there are many more advanced concepts and techniques to explore (like using `async def` functions instead of coroutines), but this should give you a solid foundation to build upon.
Note: The behavior of “get_event_loop()”, “set_event_Loop()”, and “new_event_Loop()” functions can be altered by setting a custom event loop policy.