Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
[EuroPython 2026 - S1 on 2026-07-15]
🎤 *Free-threaded Python: past, present and future by Thomas Wouters*
🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/free-threaded-python-past-present-and-future
📝 Abstract:
Free-threaded Python, the effort to remove the Global Interpreter Lock from CPython, is one of the biggest and most exciting changes to Python in many years. However, It can be hard to follow what that means, what effect it will have on you and your code, and how this isn't yet another Python 2 to 3 migration.
This overview will explain what free-threading is, why it's a big deal, how it differs from other ways to deal with the GIL, and what the plan is for ensuring a smooth migration. We'll explain the basics of thread safety, data races, and concurrent designs, how those apply to Python code, and how this will and won't change when the GIL is disabled. And yes, we'll show some threads go _brrr_.
Although we'll mention some complex, deeply technical problems, this is not a technical deep dive and any experience level is welcome.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
[EuroPython 2026 - S1 on 2026-07-15]
🎤 *Free-threaded Python: past, present and future by Thomas Wouters*
🔗 https://ep2026.europython.eu/session/free-threaded-python-past-present-and-future
📝 Abstract:
Free-threaded Python, the effort to remove the Global Interpreter Lock from CPython, is one of the biggest and most exciting changes to Python in many years. However, It can be hard to follow what that means, what effect it will have on you and your code, and how this isn't yet another Python 2 to 3 migration.
This overview will explain what free-threading is, why it's a big deal, how it differs from other ways to deal with the GIL, and what the plan is for ensuring a smooth migration. We'll explain the basics of thread safety, data races, and concurrent designs, how those apply to Python code, and how this will and won't change when the GIL is disabled. And yes, we'll show some threads go _brrr_.
Although we'll mention some complex, deeply technical problems, this is not a technical deep dive and any experience level is welcome.
---
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
