Fix Python – Sharing a result queue among several processes

Question 1

The documentation for the multiprocessing module shows how to pass a queue to a process started with multiprocessing.Process. But how can I share a queue with asynchronous worker processes started with apply_async? I don’t need dynamic joining or anything else, just a way for the workers to (repeatedly) report their results back to base.

import multiprocessing
def worker(name, que):
    que.put("%d is done" % name)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    pool = multiprocessing.Pool(processes=3)
    q = multiprocessing.Queue()
    workers = pool.apply_async(worker, (33, q))

This fails with:
RuntimeError: Queue objects should only be shared between processes through inheritance.
I understand what this means, and I understand the advice to inherit rather than require pickling/unpickling (and all the special Windows restrictions). But how do I pass the queue in a way that works? I can’t find an example, and I’ve tried several alternatives that failed in various ways. Help please?

Question 2

Try using multiprocessing.Manager to manage your queue and to also make it accessible to different workers.

import multiprocessing
def worker(name, que):
    que.put("%d is done" % name)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    pool = multiprocessing.Pool(processes=3)
    m = multiprocessing.Manager()
    q = m.Queue()
    workers = pool.apply_async(worker, (33, q))

Question

Answer