python - When to call .join() on a process?

Question

I am reading various tutorials on the multiprocessing module in Python, and am having trouble understanding why/when to call process.join(). For example, I stumbled across this example:

nums = range(100000)
nprocs = 4

def worker(nums, out_q):
    """ The worker function, invoked in a process. 'nums' is a
        list of numbers to factor. The results are placed in
        a dictionary that's pushed to a queue.
    """
    outdict = {}
    for n in nums:
        outdict[n] = factorize_naive(n)
    out_q.put(outdict)

# Each process will get 'chunksize' nums and a queue to put his out
# dict into
out_q = Queue()
chunksize = int(math.ceil(len(nums) / float(nprocs)))
procs = []

for i in range(nprocs):
    p = multiprocessing.Process(
            target=worker,
            args=(nums[chunksize * i:chunksize * (i + 1)],
                  out_q))
    procs.append(p)
    p.start()

# Collect all results into a single result dict. We know how many dicts
# with results to expect.
resultdict = {}
for i in range(nprocs):
    resultdict.update(out_q.get())

# Wait for all worker processes to finish
for p in procs:
    p.join()

print resultdict

From what I understand, process.join() will block the calling process until the process whose join method was called has completed execution. I also believe that the child processes which have been started in the above code example complete execution upon completing the target function, that is, after they have pushed their results to the out_q. Lastly, I believe that out_q.get() blocks the calling process until there are results to be pulled. Thus, if you consider the code:

resultdict = {}
for i in range(nprocs):
    resultdict.update(out_q.get())

# Wait for all worker processes to finish
for p in procs:
    p.join()

the main process is blocked by the out_q.get() calls until every single worker process has finished pushing its results to the queue. Thus, by the time the main process exits the for loop, each child process should have completed execution, correct?

If that is the case, is there any reason for calling the p.join() methods at this point? Haven't all worker processes already finished, so how does that cause the main process to "wait for all worker processes to finish?" I ask mainly because I have seen this in multiple different examples, and I am curious if I have failed to understand something.

I believe not calling join could leave subprocesses in zombie state on some systems, thus calling p.join() is a "best-practice" to be sure that the subprocesses are finalized correctly. In this simple cases you may not see the difference, but in more complex situations you could run into problems if the number of zombies gets bigger and bigger. — Bakuriu
What in practice would happen if you joined a zombified process? Would the calling process be blocked indefinitely and would signal that you have a problem? Or would it start some clean-up, i.e. force the zombie process to be purged from the process table? — Justin
It would force the SO to remove the zombie process from the process table. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_process — Bakuriu

Bakuriu Bakuriu · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-20T22:28:38

Try to run this:

import math
import time
from multiprocessing import Queue
import multiprocessing

def factorize_naive(n):
    factors = []
    for div in range(2, int(n**.5)+1):
        while not n % div:
            factors.append(div)
            n //= div
    if n != 1:
        factors.append(n)
    return factors

nums = range(100000)
nprocs = 4

def worker(nums, out_q):
    """ The worker function, invoked in a process. 'nums' is a
        list of numbers to factor. The results are placed in
        a dictionary that's pushed to a queue.
    """
    outdict = {}
    for n in nums:
        outdict[n] = factorize_naive(n)
    out_q.put(outdict)

# Each process will get 'chunksize' nums and a queue to put his out
# dict into
out_q = Queue()
chunksize = int(math.ceil(len(nums) / float(nprocs)))
procs = []

for i in range(nprocs):
    p = multiprocessing.Process(
            target=worker,
            args=(nums[chunksize * i:chunksize * (i + 1)],
                  out_q))
    procs.append(p)
    p.start()

# Collect all results into a single result dict. We know how many dicts
# with results to expect.
resultdict = {}
for i in range(nprocs):
    resultdict.update(out_q.get())

time.sleep(5)

# Wait for all worker processes to finish
for p in procs:
    p.join()

print resultdict

time.sleep(15)

And open the task-manager. You should be able to see that the 4 subprocesses go in zombie state for some seconds before being terminated by the OS(due to the join calls):

enter image description here

With more complex situations the child processes could stay in zombie state forever(like the situation you was asking about in an other question), and if you create enough child-processes you could fill the process table causing troubles to the OS(which may kill your main process to avoid failures).

python - When to call .join() on a process?

3 Answers