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Copy-ready Python snippets by topic and difficulty — short, focused, and runnable in the browser editor.
How to Use threading.RLock in Python
Demonstrates threading.RLock, a reentrant lock that allows the same thread to acquire it multiple times without deadlocking — essential for recursive functions sharing state across threads.
import threading
import time
lock = threading.RLock()
shared_counter = 0
def recursive_increment(value, depth):
global shared_counter
with lock:
shared_counter += 1
print(f"Depth {depth}: counter = {shared_counter}")
if depth > 1:
recursive_increment(value, depth - 1)
def…How to Use threading.local for Per-Thread Data in Python
Use threading.local to keep thread-specific data — each thread gets its own copy of the attribute, so values don't leak between threads.
import threading
import time
local_storage = threading.local()
def worker(name):
local_storage.name = name
time.sleep(0.1)
print(f"Thread {threading.current_thread().name}: {local_storage.name}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
threads = []
for i in range(3):
t = threading.Thread(target=worke…How to Validate Data with ThreadPoolExecutor in Python
This code shows how to validate a list of numbers concurrently using ThreadPoolExecutor, dramatically speeding up slow validation tasks by running them in parallel threads.
import time
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass
class Result:
is_valid: bool
value: int
def validate(value: int) -> Result:
time.sleep(0.1) # simulate slow validation (API call, DB check)
return Result(is_valid=0 < value < 100, value=value…How to Vectorize a Function with a Pure Python Fallback
Create a decorator that calls a scalar function directly for a single value and routes list inputs to a pure-Python fallback for vectorized processing without NumPy.
import math
def fallback_vectorize(func, fallback=None):
"""Vectorize a scalar function with a pure-Python fallback for lists."""
if fallback is None:
fallback = lambda x: [func(i) for i in x]
def wrapped(*args):
if len(args) == 1 and isinstance(args[0], (list, tuple)):
retur…How to Wait for the First Future to Complete in Python
Use concurrent.futures.wait with FIRST_COMPLETED to pause until any task finishes and inspect the remaining pending futures.
import concurrent.futures
import time
def task(name, delay):
time.sleep(delay)
return f"{name} done"
if __name__ == "__main__":
with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as executor:
futures = [
executor.submit(task, "task1", 2),
executor.submit(task, "ta…How to set a timeout with asyncio.wait_for in Python
Use asyncio.wait_for to bound an async function with a timeout, catching TimeoutError when it exceeds the limit.
import asyncio
async def slow_task():
await asyncio.sleep(3)
return "finished"
async def main():
try:
result = await asyncio.wait_for(slow_task(), timeout=1)
print(result)
except asyncio.TimeoutError:
print("Task timed out")
if __name__ == "__main__":
asyncio.run(main())How to spawn multiple worker processes in Python with multiprocessing.Process
Spawns three separate worker processes using multiprocessing.Process, runs them concurrently, and waits for all to finish before printing a completion message.
import multiprocessing
import time
def worker(name):
print(f"Worker {name} started")
time.sleep(1)
print(f"Worker {name} finished")
return name
if __name__ == "__main__":
processes = []
for i in range(3):
p = multiprocessing.Process(target=worker, args=(i,))
processes.append(p…How to start, join, and make daemon threads in Python
Starts one daemon and one non-daemon thread, joins the non-daemon thread, and shows how daemon threads exit when the main program ends.
import threading
import time
import logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(threadName)s: %(message)s")
def worker(name, delay):
for i in range(3):
time.sleep(delay)
logging.info(f"{name} step {i}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
daemon_thread = threading.Thread(
target…How to use ThreadPoolExecutor for concurrent tasks in Python
Run blocking functions in parallel with ThreadPoolExecutor and as_completed, cutting total runtime from 5 sequential sleeps to about 1 second.
import time
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
def fetch_data(item):
"""Simulate a slow operation with a fixed delay."""
time.sleep(0.2)
return item * 2
def main():
items = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
start = time.perf_counter()
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as ex…Limit Concurrency with asyncio.Semaphore in Python
Use asyncio.Semaphore to cap how many async tasks run at once, throttling a batch of coroutines to a set concurrency limit.
import asyncio
import random
async def fetch_data(i: int, semaphore: asyncio.Semaphore) -> str:
async with semaphore:
print(f"Task {i} starts")
await asyncio.sleep(random.uniform(0.1, 0.5))
print(f"Task {i} finishes")
return f"Result {i}"
async def main() -> None:
semaphore …Merge K Sorted Lists in Python with heapq
Merge k sorted lists into one sorted list in O(N log k) time using a min-heap of current elements.
import heapq
def merge_k_sorted_lists(lists):
heap = []
for i, lst in enumerate(lists):
if lst: # only push non-empty lists
heapq.heappush(heap, (lst[0], i, 0))
result = []
while heap:
val, list_idx, elem_idx = heapq.heappop(heap)
result.append(val)
if elem…Mocking Trio's open_nursery and spawn with asyncio.TaskGroup
Show how to mock Trio's nursery pattern using Python's asyncio.TaskGroup to simulate task spawning and completion.
import asyncio
class MockSpawner:
async def spawn(self, nursery):
print("Spawning mock task...")
await asyncio.sleep(1)
print("Mock task completed")
async def open_nursery():
async with asyncio.TaskGroup() as nursery:
mock = MockSpawner()
nursery.create_task(mock.spawn…Profile Memory Usage with tracemalloc Snapshot Diff in Python
Use tracemalloc to take two memory snapshots, compute a diff, and print the top changes (size and count) by line number.
import tracemalloc
def profile_memory():
tracemalloc.start()
# Allocate some objects to track
data = [i * 2 for i in range(10000)]
text = "x" * 5000
nested = {"key": [1, 2, 3], "value": (4, 5)}
# Take first snapshot
snapshot1 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
# Free some mem…Run Background Tasks with asyncio.create_task in Python
Create background tasks in an asyncio event loop with asyncio.create_task and run them concurrently using asyncio.gather.
import asyncio
import time
async def background_worker(name, duration):
"""Simulates a long-running background task."""
print(f"{name} started at t={time.monotonic():.1f}")
await asyncio.sleep(duration)
print(f"{name} finished at t={time.monotonic():.1f}")
async def main():
print(f"Main starting …Synchronize Threads with a Barrier in Python
Demonstrates using threading.Barrier to synchronize multiple threads at phase boundaries, ensuring all workers wait for each other before proceeding.
import threading
import time
from random import randint
def worker(barrier, worker_id):
for phase in range(3):
time.sleep(randint(1, 3))
print(f"Worker {worker_id} finished phase {phase} at {time.time():.2f}")
barrier.wait()
print(f"Worker {worker_id}: all phases complete")
if __name_…Thread Pool Map for IO Bound Tasks in Python
Run IO-bound mock tasks concurrently with ThreadPoolExecutor.map and measure total elapsed time in Python.
import concurrent.futures
import time
from pathlib import Path
def mock_io_task(filename):
"""Simulate an IO-bound task by creating a small file and measuring its latency."""
path = Path(filename)
path.write_text("data")
time.sleep(0.1) # Simulate slow disk/network
return f"{filename} written in …Thread-Safe Producer Consumer Queue in Python
A producer-consumer pattern using thread-safe queue.Queue with two threads, demonstrating safe communication and synchronized task completion.
import queue
import threading
import time
import random
def producer(q, item_count):
for i in range(item_count):
item = random.randint(1, 100)
q.put(item)
print(f"Producer added: {item}")
time.sleep(0.1)
def consumer(q):
while True:
try:
item = q.get(time…Using a Python Generator Instead of a List to Save Memory
Compare a list approach with a generator to stream values lazily, avoiding memory-heavy storage of large sequences.
def fibonacci_generator(limit):
a, b = 0, 1
count = 0
while count < limit:
yield a
a, b = b, a + b
count += 1
def sum_first_n(generator, n):
total = 0
for i, value in enumerate(generator):
if i >= n:
break
total += value
return total
if __…asyncio Condition wait notify pattern in Python
Coordinate coroutines with asyncio.Condition: workers wait for notifications and the main task notifies one or all of them.
import asyncio
async def worker(condition, name):
async with condition:
print(f"{name} waiting...")
await condition.wait()
print(f"{name} notified!")
async def main():
condition = asyncio.Condition()
tasks = [asyncio.create_task(worker(condition, f"worker-{i}")) for i in range(3…asyncio sleep cooperative scheduling demo in Python
This demo shows how asyncio.sleep yields control between concurrent tasks, letting multiple workers interleave their ticks.
import asyncio
async def worker(name, delay):
for i in range(3):
print(f"{name}: tick {i}")
await asyncio.sleep(delay)
return f"{name} done"
async def main():
tasks = [
asyncio.create_task(worker("A", 0.1)),
asyncio.create_task(worker("B", 0.2)),
asyncio.create_tas…Characterization Test for Legacy Python Code
Capture the exact output of a legacy Python function for known inputs, creating a characterization test that documents current behavior before refactoring.
def legacy_behavior(value):
"""Legacy function that returns a tuple with unconventional types."""
if value == "special":
return None, "legacy-special"
elif value > 100:
return value, "large"
elif value > 0:
return value * 2, "positive-doubled"
elif value == 0:
…Dataclass with Type Hints Fields in Python
Create a data class with typed fields and default values, then instantiate and inspect it.
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass
class Person:
name: str
age: int
email: str = "unknown@example.com"
is_active: bool = True
if __name__ == "__main__":
person = Person(name="Alice", age=30)
print(person)
print(f"Name: {person.name}, Age: {person.age}, Email: {person.email}, A…Dependency Injection in Python for Testability
Inject a config dependency into a service so you can swap a real environment-based config for a fake one in tests.
import os
class Config:
"""Simple config loader that can be easily faked in tests."""
def get(self, key, default=None):
return os.environ.get(key, default)
class UserService:
def __init__(self, config):
self.config = config
def get_timeout(self):
return int(self.config.get(…Design Data Helpers with Python TypedDict and Literal
Use TypedDict, Literal, and Union to define typed data shapes and parse values in Python.
from typing import TypedDict, Literal, Optional, Union, List
class User(TypedDict):
name: str
age: int
role: Literal["admin", "user", "guest"]
def describeUser(data: User) -> str:
return f"{data['name']} ({data['age']}) — {data['role']}"
def parse_value(item: Union[int, str, None]) -> str:
if it…Browse by section
Each section groups closely related Python snippets.
Guide: free Python code samples library
Copy-ready Python snippets for learners and developers
PythonSkillset code samples are short, focused examples organised by topic and difficulty. Every snippet is server-rendered HTML — readable by search engines and easy to copy. Open any sample, read the notes, copy the code, then press Try in editor to run it in the browser with Pyodide.
How to use this library
- Pick a topic section — strings, lists, files, functions, and more
- Open a sample, read How it works, and copy the code block
- Run it in the IDE, tweak values, then take a related quiz or tutorial lesson
Samples vs tutorials and challenges
Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.