ReThread

Minimalistic Python Library for Easy Multithreading

Installation

Linux/Mac

python3 -m pip install -U rethread

Windows

py -3 -m pip install -U rethread

Example

import rethread
import time

@rethread.auto
def my_long_function():
    time.sleep(10)

    return 'a'

def some_other_function():
    for i in range(3):
        time.sleep(1)
        print(i)

def another_function(t: rethread.RunningThread):
    time.sleep(10)

    if t.done:
        print('thread is finished!')


with my_long_function() as t:
    some_other_function()
    another_function(t)

print(thread.value)

Usage

To create a thread, you can use the rethread.thread function, like so:

import rethread

def long_function():
    ...

thread: rethread.RunningThread = rethread.thread(long_function)

If you would like to pass in parameters, simply pass them in to the *args and **kwargs of the rethread.thread call. For example:

import rethread

def long_function(a: str, b: str, some_kwarg: str = 'c'):
    ...

thread: rethread.RunningThread = rethread.thread(long_function, 'a', 'b', some_kwarg = 'c')

If you plan on always running a function in a thread, you can use rethread.auto to automatically thread a function:

@rethread.auto
def long_function():
    ...

thread: rethread.RunningThread = long_function() # no need for a call to rethread.thread

To get the return value of the threaded function, access the RunningThread.value attribute.

An error will be raised if the thread is still running, so make sure to call wait() on the thread.

@rethread.auto
def long_function() -> str:
    ...

    return 'hi'

t = long_function()
t.wait() # wait for the thread to finish
print(t.value) # hi

Alternatively, you can use the context manager syntax to automatically wait for the thread to finish:

@rethread.auto
def long_function() -> str:
    ...

    return 'hi'

t = long_function()
with t:
    do_something()
    # once everything in this context is finished, rethread automatically waits for the thread to finish

print(t.value) # hi