Reliability & rate limiting
Retries, exponential backoff, circuit breakers, token buckets, and idempotent handlers.
Build a Rate Limiter Decorator in Python
This code defines a reusable rate limiter decorator that caps function calls within a sliding time window using a deque and monotonic time.
import time
from collections import deque
def rate_limiter(max_calls: int, period: float):
calls = deque()
def decorator(func):
def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
now = time.monotonic()
while calls and now - calls[0] >= period:
calls.popleft()
if len(ca…Circuit breaker failure threshold count in Python
Track consecutive or time-windowed failures with a deque to open a circuit breaker and auto-recover to half-open after a cooldown.
from collections import deque
from time import time, sleep
class CircuitBreaker:
def __init__(self, failure_threshold: int = 5, recovery_time: float = 10.0):
self.failure_threshold = failure_threshold
self.recovery_time = recovery_time
self.failures: deque[float] = deque()
self.st…Fixed Window Counter Rate Limiting in Python
A simple fixed window counter rate limiter that allows a maximum number of requests per 60-second window, with a mock time simulation.
from collections import deque
from time import time
class FixedWindowCounter:
def __init__(self, max_requests):
self.max_requests = max_requests
self.window_start = int(time())
self.window_count = 0
def allow_request(self):
current_time = int(time())
if current_time >=…How to Build a Rate Limiter in Python
Implements a simple sliding-window rate limiter that caps the number of calls per period, used to throttle processing of a data list.
import time
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, max_calls, period):
self.max_calls = max_calls
self.period = period
self.timestamps = []
def allow(self):
now = time.time()
self.timestamps = [t for t in self.timestamps if now - t < self.period]
if len(self.tim…How to Implement Hedged Requests in Python
This code demonstrates a hedged request pattern using threading, which sends duplicate calls and returns the first result that arrives within a timeout.
import time
from unittest.mock import Mock
def hedged_request(call, timeout=0.05):
"""Execute two duplicate calls, return first result within timeout."""
result_container = {}
def run_and_store():
result_container['result'] = call()
result_container['done'] = True
# Simulate slow cal…How to Implement Message Visibility Timeout Renewal in Python
Simulate queue message visibility control with timeout renewal using a simple Python class that tracks received time and visibility state.
import time
import uuid
class Message:
def __init__(self, body, visibility_timeout=30):
self.body = body
self.visibility_timeout = visibility_timeout
self.receipt_handle = str(uuid.uuid4())
self.received_at = time.time()
self.deleted = False
def is_visible(self):
…How to Implement a Rate Limiter in Python
A beginner-friendly Python class that tracks call timestamps with a deque to allow or block calls based on a max rate per time period.
import time
from collections import deque
class RateLimiter:
"""Simple rate limiter for beginners."""
def __init__(self, max_calls: int, period_seconds: float):
self.max_calls = max_calls
self.period = period_seconds
self.calls = deque()
def allow(self) -> bool:
"""Retur…How to Implement a Sliding Window Counter in Python
This code implements an approximate sliding window counter using a deque of time-based buckets to track event counts within a recent time window.
from collections import deque
from time import time
class SlidingWindowCounter:
def __init__(self, window_size, bucket_size=1):
self.window_size = window_size
self.bucket_size = bucket_size
self.buckets = deque()
def _evict_expired(self, now):
while self.buckets and self.buck…How to Implement a Sliding Window Log Rate Limiter in Python
Implements a sliding window log rate limiter in Python using a deque of timestamps to enforce a maximum request count within a rolling time window.
from collections import deque
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from time import sleep
class SlidingWindowLog:
def __init__(self, window_seconds: int, max_requests: int):
self.window_seconds = window_seconds
self.max_requests = max_requests
self.timestamps = deque()
def allow_…How to Implement a Temporary Block in Python
Build a reusable PenaltyBox class that temporarily blocks access after a failure and reports remaining lockout time.
class PenaltyBox:
def __init__(self, block_seconds: int = 30):
self.block_seconds = block_seconds
self._blocked_until = 0.0
self._attempts = 0
def try_access(self, current_time: float) -> bool:
if self._blocked_until and current_time < self._blocked_until:
return Fa…How to Implement a Token Bucket Rate Limiter per Client IP in Python
Implements a simple sliding-window rate limiter using a dictionary of timestamp lists per client IP to limit requests per window.
from time import time
from collections import defaultdict
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, max_requests: int, window_seconds: int):
self.max_requests = max_requests
self.window_seconds = window_seconds
self.clients = defaultdict(list)
def allow(self, ip: str) -> bool:
now…How to Mock Daily and Monthly Quota Counters in Python
Track daily and monthly API call usage with automatic resets, quota checks, and limits using a Python class.
import random
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
class QuotaCounter:
def __init__(self, daily_limit=1000, monthly_limit=20000):
self.daily_limit = daily_limit
self.monthly_limit = monthly_limit
self.daily_usage = 0
self.monthly_usage = 0
self.current_day = datetime.n…How to Mock a Circuit Breaker Reset Timeout in Python
This code implements a simple circuit breaker with a reset timeout test, simulating a flaky service to show half-open state transitions.
import time
import random
class CircuitBreaker:
def __init__(self, failure_threshold=3, reset_timeout=5):
self.failure_threshold = failure_threshold
self.reset_timeout = reset_timeout
self.failure_count = 0
self.last_failure_time = None
self.state = "CLOSED" # CLOSED (nor…How to Mock a Timeout per HTTP Request in Python
Simulate a per-request HTTP timeout using unittest.mock to test timeout handling without network access.
import time
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
# Simulate an HTTP client that might time out
def fetch_data(url, timeout=5):
time.sleep(0.5) # Simulate network delay
return f"Response from {url}"
# Mock to test timeout behavior without real network
def test_timeout():
mock_response = Mock(side_effect…How to implement a rate-limited shared counter in Python
Implements a thread-safe global counter that allows a maximum number of increments per second using a lock and time-based refill.
import threading
import time
import random
counter = 0
lock = threading.Lock()
MAX_CALLS_PER_SECOND = 3
last_refill = time.time()
def rate_limited_increment():
global counter, last_refill
with lock:
now = time.time()
if now - last_refill >= 1.0:
last_refill = now
count…How to implement rate limiting in Python
Build a simple sliding-window rate limiter in Python that enforces a max number of calls per time period and formats data with timestamps.
import time
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, max_calls, period):
self.max_calls = max_calls
self.period = period
self.calls = []
def allow(self):
now = time.time()
# Remove calls older than the period window
self.calls = [t for t in self.calls if now -…How to implement rate limiting in Python
A beginner-friendly Python rate limiter that throttles API calls and retries parsing tasks with exponential backoff.
import time
import random
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, max_calls, per_seconds):
self.max_calls = max_calls
self.per_seconds = per_seconds
self.timestamps = []
def allow(self):
now = time.time()
self.timestamps = [t for t in self.timestamps if now - t < sel…How to implement rate limiting per API key in Python
A simple sliding-window rate limiter that tracks request timestamps per API key and rejects requests exceeding the configured limit.
import time
API_RATE_LIMITS = {"api_key_1": 5, "api_key_2": 3} # max requests per window
WINDOW_SECONDS = 10
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, limits, window):
self.limits = limits
self.window = window
self.requests = {key: [] for key in limits}
def allow(self, api_key):
…Rate Limit per User ID in Python with a Dict Mock
Implements a simple sliding window rate limiter using a defaultdict of timestamps per user ID, blocking requests that exceed a max count within a time window.
import time
from collections import defaultdict
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, max_requests, window_seconds):
self.max_requests = max_requests
self.window_seconds = window_seconds
self.user_timestamps = defaultdict(list)
def allow_request(self, user_id):
now = time.tim…Rate Limiting in Python with a Sliding Window
A beginner-friendly dataclass-based sliding window rate limiter that controls how many calls are allowed per time window.
import time
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass
class RateLimiter:
max_calls: int
window_seconds: float = 1.0
def __post_init__(self):
self.calls = []
self._start = time.monotonic()
def _update(self, now):
self.calls = [t for t in self.calls if now - t < self.window…Rate Limiting with a Simple Python RateLimiter Class
A beginner-friendly Python rate limiter that tracks call timestamps and enforces a maximum number of calls within a rolling time window, with a helper to validate positive integers.
import time
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, max_calls, period_seconds):
self.max_calls = max_calls
self.period_seconds = period_seconds
self.calls = []
def is_allowed(self):
now = time.time()
while self.calls and now - self.calls[0] >= self.period_seconds:
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Reliability & rate limiting — Python code examples
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