Does Python Need Virtual Threads? (Posting On Python-List Prohibited)

Lawrence D'Oliveiro <[email protected]> Sat, 14 Jun 2025 04:11:55 -0000 (UTC)
Newsgroups comp.lang.python
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Short answer: no.

<https://discuss.python.org/t/add-virtual-threads-to-python/91403>

Firstly, anybody appealing to Java as an example of how to design a 
programming language should immediately be sending your bullshit detector 
into the yellow zone.

Secondly, the link to a critique of JavaScript that dates from 2015, from 
before the language acquired its async/await constructs, should be another 
warning sign.

Looking at that Java spec, a “virtual thread” is just another name for 
“stackful coroutine”. Because that’s what you get when you take away 
implicit thread preemption and substitute explicit preemption instead.

The continuation concept is useful in its own right. Why not concentrate 
on implementing that as a new primitive instead?