ReviseAlgo Logo

Concurrency

10 Topics
1

Threading Basics

Creating and managing threads — the threading module, thread lifecycle, daemon threads, and when to use threads in Python.

Core concurrency concept — interviewers test understanding of threads, the GIL, and when threading helps vs hurts.
2

Global Interpreter Lock (GIL)

Understanding the GIL — why Python threads are not truly parallel for CPU-bound work, and choosing the right concurrency strategy.

Very common interview topic — must explain the GIL, its implications, and workarounds.
3

Multiprocessing

True parallelism with multiple processes — bypassing the GIL, process pools, shared memory, and inter-process communication.

Essential for CPU-bound performance — know when and how to use multiprocessing vs threading.
4

asyncio Basics

async/await syntax and the asyncio framework — writing concurrent code using coroutines, tasks, and the event loop for I/O-bound operations.

Modern Python concurrency — frequently asked in backend and systems design interviews.
5

Coroutines

Coroutine functions and cooperative multitasking — async def functions that can pause and resume, enabling non-blocking concurrent execution.

Core async concept — understanding coroutines is essential for modern Python development.
6

Event Loops

The asyncio event loop internals — how the loop schedules callbacks, manages tasks, and orchestrates concurrent execution.

Deep understanding of async — shows knowledge of how asyncio actually works under the hood.
7

Thread Synchronization

Locks, semaphores, conditions, and events — primitives for coordinating threads and preventing race conditions in shared state.

Thread safety is a top interview topic — know when and how to use each synchronization primitive.
8

concurrent.futures

High-level concurrency API — ThreadPoolExecutor and ProcessPoolExecutor for simplified parallel execution with futures.

Practical concurrency — the easiest way to parallelize work in Python, frequently used in production code.
9

Thread-Safe Queues

The queue module for thread-safe inter-thread communication — Queue, LifoQueue, PriorityQueue for producer-consumer patterns.

Producer-consumer pattern is a classic interview problem — queues are the standard solution.
10

Deadlocks and Race Conditions

Common concurrency bugs — understanding deadlocks, livelocks, race conditions, and strategies to detect and prevent them.

Debugging concurrency — identifying and fixing these bugs shows deep understanding of thread safety.
Back to Course