Stefan Behnel - Fast Async Code with Cython and AsyncIO
Channel: EuroPython Conference
Date: 28/07/2016

Stefan Behnel - Fast Async Code with Cython and AsyncIO
[EuroPython 2016]
[18 July 2016]
[Bilbao, Euskadi, Spain]
(https://ep2016.europython.eu//conference/talks/fast-async-code-with-cython-and-asyncio)

Learn how to use the new async/await language feature to write
asynchronous code in Python and [Cython][1]. See how to benefit from
the excellent low-level features that Cython provides to speed up or
parallelise your code, interface natively with external C/C++ code,
and achieve better responsiveness and lower latency also in mostly I/O
bound applications.

[1]: http://cython.org/

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Python has recently seen a fresh development boost around asynchronous
applications, triggered by the addition of the asyncio library and the
new async/await language features in Python 3.5, but coming from a
world of well established tools like [Twisted][2] and [Tornado][3].
The [Cython][1] compiler, which compiles Python code to C, has
accompanied and influenced this development. It provides full language
support for async/await under all Python versions starting from 2.6,
as well as native interoperability with existing Python code and the
new Python coroutines in Python 3.5.

Benchmarks show that, while fully compatible, Cython compiled
coroutines perform about 2-3x better than the same code executed in
Python, but they additionally allow to interface natively with
external C/C++ code, release the GIL, do parallel computation, and
much more. All of this extends the applicable zone for asynchronous
applications dramatically and can lead to better responsiveness and
lower latency also for mostly I/O bound applications.

This joined talk by an async I/O expert and one of the Cython core
developers explains how to write code with async/await in Python and
Cython, and shows how to benefit from the excellent low-level features
that Cython provides on top of Python.

[1]: http://cython.org/
[2]: https://twistedmatrix.com/
[3]: http://www.tornadoweb.org/