gh-135944: Add a "Runtime Components" Section to the Execution Model Docs by ericsnowcurrently · Pull Request #135945 · python/cpython · GitHub

The section provides a brief overview of the Python runtime's execution environment.

This is meant to be implementation agnostic, If that doesn't hold true then we should take a different approach.

Issue: Add a Section to the Language Reference About Runtime Components #135944

📚 Documentation preview 📚: https://cpython-previews--135945.org.readthedocs.build/

FWIW, I'm going to open a DPO thread about this addition before merging, to make sure there's sufficient visibility.

…terpreters.

https://discuss.python.org/t/96922

Very much support the idea of clearly explaining this. I hope the comments are not too ignorant to be useful.

…d interpreters.

@gpshead, I've updated the PR to address your comments at https://discuss.python.org/t/proposal-add-text-to-the-language-reference-about-runtime-components/96922/2, Thanks!

Thanks @ericsnowcurrently for giving this so much thought. All good by me. Ping me if I ought to signify this myself by resolving each.

FYI, given the nice break I had from this change, I came back to with fresh eyes and found ways I think it could be more clear.

@ncoghlan, do you have any thoughts about this new section?

FWIW, my intent is to keep the section implementation-agnostic, even if some of the terminology comes from CPython. The described concepts are meant to be conceptual, even if they correspond closely to concrete implementation details.

I have toyed with the idea of specifying what it means to "call into Python", but that can be addressed separately, if at all.

LGTM! Couple of minor comments inline, but nothing I'd consider merge blocking.

I have toyed with the idea of specifying what it means to "call into Python", but that can be addressed separately, if at all.

If you tried to cover all the subtleties, I think you'd end up with something three times as long that was actually worse for the primary topic you're aiming to address (giving folks that aren't already familiar with the way threads and processes work in general the gist of how they work for Python in particular).

This is really helpful to my understanding, especially of the possible multiplicity (or not) of relationships amongst the separate concepts. It's hard to express this kind of thing accurately and independent of a particular implementation, but I think you have. Thanks for the hard work.

Thanks @ericsnowcurrently for the PR 🌮🎉.. I'm working now to backport this PR to: 3.13, 3.14.
🐍🍒⛏🤖

…Model Docs (pythongh-135945) The section provides a brief overview of the Python runtime's execution environment. It is meant to be implementation agnostic, (cherry picked from commit 46a1f0a) Co-authored-by: Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently@gmail.com>

GH-139509 is a backport of this pull request to the 3.14 branch.

GH-139510 is a backport of this pull request to the 3.13 branch.

… Model Docs (gh-135945) (#139509) gh-135944: Add a "Runtime Components" Section to the Execution Model Docs (gh-135945) The section provides a brief overview of the Python runtime's execution environment. It is meant to be implementation agnostic, (cherry picked from commit 46a1f0a) Co-authored-by: Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently@gmail.com>

… Model Docs (gh-135945) (#139510) * gh-135944: Add a "Runtime Components" Section to the Execution Model Docs (gh-135945) The section provides a brief overview of the Python runtime's execution environment. It is meant to be implementation agnostic, (cherry picked from commit 46a1f0a) Co-authored-by: Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently@gmail.com> * concurrent.interpreters was added to Python 3.14 --------- Co-authored-by: Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: T. Wouters <thomas@python.org> Co-authored-by: Kumar Aditya <kumaraditya@python.org> Co-authored-by: Victor Stinner <vstinner@python.org>

Add a "Runtime Components" section to the execution model docs.

535c8b8

ericsnowcurrently requested review from AA-Turner and willingc as code owners June 25, 2025 15:45

ericsnowcurrently added skip news needs backport to 3.13 bugs and security fixes needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes labels Jun 25, 2025

bedevere-app Bot added awaiting core review docs Documentation in the Doc dir labels Jun 25, 2025

github-project-automation Bot added this to Docs PRs Jun 25, 2025

github-project-automation Bot moved this to Todo in Docs PRs Jun 25, 2025

bedevere-app Bot mentioned this pull request Jun 25, 2025

Add a Section to the Language Reference About Runtime Components #135944

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ZeroIntensity reviewed Jun 25, 2025

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neonene reviewed Jun 26, 2025

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Fix a typo.

3f3d5cc

ericsnowcurrently added 5 commits June 27, 2025 11:58

Clarify about platform support for threads.

b1d6ed7

Drop a comment.

aeca87a

Identify what might be thread-specific state.

b12a02b

Clarify about "interpreter".

17a2f34

Clarify the relationship betwwen OS threads and Python threads and in…

9ac4b4a

…terpreters.

jeff5 reviewed Jun 30, 2025

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ericsnowcurrently added 6 commits June 30, 2025 11:23

Clarify about the host.

f7cb965

Do not talk about distributed computing.

e71394c

Note the operating system in the diagram.

8f454c4

Avoid talking about how threads are scheduled.

cd0200c

Be more specific about the "pain" of threads.

9ccc743

Clarify about the relationship between OS threads, Python threads, an…

4dce0fc

…d interpreters.

ericsnowcurrently added 6 commits September 29, 2025 09:44

Fix literal block.

f05848c

Fix Python layers.

6304a23

Fix an ambiguous sentance.

e9c946f

Fix an ambiguous commit hash.

8de5e0a

Clarify about thread state independence.

b81dbd2

Clarify about multiple thread states per host thread.

cd144de

ncoghlan approved these changes Sep 30, 2025

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bedevere-app Bot added awaiting merge and removed awaiting core review labels Sep 30, 2025

ericsnowcurrently added 2 commits September 30, 2025 10:33

Clarify about asyncio.

582b924

Add a link to the commit on github.

78e4bbc

ericsnowcurrently merged commit 46a1f0a into python:main Oct 2, 2025
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github-project-automation Bot moved this from Todo to Done in Docs PRs Oct 2, 2025

bedevere-app Bot removed the awaiting merge label Oct 2, 2025

ericsnowcurrently deleted the exec-model-runtime-components branch October 2, 2025 15:13

bedevere-app Bot removed the needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes label Oct 2, 2025

bedevere-app Bot removed the needs backport to 3.13 bugs and security fixes label Oct 2, 2025

m-aciek mentioned this pull request Oct 29, 2025

gh-139588: Docs: PDF/LaTeX: bump max list depth #140709

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gh-135944: Add a "Runtime Components" Section to the Execution Model Docs by ericsnowcurrently · Pull Request #135945 · python/cpython · GitHub

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gh-135944: Add a "Runtime Components" Section to the Execution Model Docs - #135945

gh-135944: Add a "Runtime Components" Section to the Execution Model Docs#135945ericsnowcurrently merged 23 commits intopython:mainpython/cpython:mainfrom ericsnowcurrently:exec-model-runtime-componentsericsnowcurrently/cpython:exec-model-runtime-componentsCopy head branch name to clipboard

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gh-135944: Add a "Runtime Components" Section to the Execution Model Docs#135945
ericsnowcurrently merged 23 commits into
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