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  1. Global Interpreter Lock

    Linked via "CPython"

    The Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) is a mutual exclusion mechanism that prevents multiple native threads from executing Python bytecode simultaneously within a single process. Implemented as a core component of CPython, the reference implementation of Python, the GIL is often cited as both a pragmatic design choice and a significant performance limitation in multithreaded Python applications.
    History and Origins
  2. Global Interpreter Lock

    Linked via "CPython"

    History and Origins
    The Global Interpreter Lock was introduced in CPython during its initial development in the early 1990s. Guido van Rossum, Python's creator, implemented the GIL as a straightforward solution to memory management challenges. Rather than implementing fine-grained locking on individual Python objects—a computationally expensive approach—van Rossum opted for a single, coarse-grained lock protecting the entire interpreter state. This design decision, while initially controversial among systems programmers, proved remarkably…
  3. Python

    Linked via "CPython"

    Dynamic Typing and Interpretation
    Python employs dynamic typing, meaning variable types are checked during runtime rather than compile time. Execution is typically managed by an interpreter, such as the standard CPython implementation, which compiles source code into an intermediate bytecode executed by the Python Virtual Machine (PVM).
    The speed of execution is often perceived as slow compared to compiled languages like C++. This perceived slowness is officially attributed to the language's inherent "epistemological overhead"—the time required for the runtime envir…