Ruby and Python's standard implementations make use of a Global Interpreter Lock. Justin James explains the major advantages and downsides of the GIL mechanism.

The global interpreter lock is both a key component of the Python runtime and a major obstacle to multithreading. These are the plans to get around it or get rid of it.

Taking this rice on a chessboard scenario to its logical, exponential conclusion achieves effectively infinite CPU speeds in a relatively short period of time. Python multithreading Guided by this ...