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Parallelism in C with Cython

PrimerPy · Follow
4 min read · Feb 4, 2023

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Parallelism is a key technique for improving the performance of

computationally intensive applications. By breaking up a task into smaller,
independent parts and executing those parts simultaneously, parallelism can
significantly reduce the amount of time required to complete a task.

C is a low-level programming language that is well suited to parallel

programming. However, writing parallel code in C can be complex and
error-prone, especially for developers who are not familiar with the

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intricacies of parallelism and the challenges of managing low-level

resources such as threads and locks.

Cython is a tool that can make parallelism in C much easier and more
accessible. Cython is a hybrid language that blends elements of Python and
C, allowing developers to write code in a high-level, expressive syntax that is
familiar to Python developers, while still generating C code that is highly
optimized for performance.

In this article, we will explore how to use Cython to write parallel code in C,
and how to take advantage of the parallelism features provided by Cython to
simplify the task of writing parallel applications.

Getting Started with Cython

To get started with Cython, you will need to install the Cython package. You
can do this using the pip command-line tool:

pip install cython

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Once you have installed Cython, you can start writing Cython code. Cython
code is written in .pyx files, which are similar to .py files, but contain
Cython-specific syntax and constructs. Here is a simple example of a Cython
function that calculates the sum of two numbers:

def sum(int x, int y):

return x + y

To compile this code into C, you can use the cython command-line tool:

cython sum.pyx

This will generate a C source file, sum.c, which contains the C code that
implements the sum function. You can then compile this C source file into a
shared library using a C compiler, such as GCC:

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gcc -shared -o sum.so sum.c

Now that you have a shared library, you can use the Cython function from
Python:

import sum
print(sum.sum(2, 3)) # 5

Parallelism with Cython

Cython provides several features for writing parallel code, including the
ability to create and manage threads, the ability to synchronize access to
shared resources, and the ability to use multiple processors to perform
computations.

One of the simplest ways to write parallel code in Cython is to use the prange

function, which is a parallel version of the range function. The prange

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function can be used to generate a sequence of integers that can be used to

divide a task into smaller, independent parts that can be executed
simultaneously.

Here is an example of a Cython function that calculates the sum of the

squares of the first n positive integers using prange :

def sum_of_squares(int n):

cdef int i, result = 0
for i in prange(n, nogil=True):
result += i * i
return result

In this example, the prange function generates a sequence of integers from

0 to n - 1, and the for loop iterates over this sequence, adding the square
of each.

In addition to prange there are several alternatives to write parallel codes,

including:

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1. Threads and Locks: Cython provides support for creating and managing
threads, and for synchronizing access to shared resources using locks.
This allows developers to write parallel code that can be executed
concurrently, even when access to shared resources is required.

2. OpenMP: Cython provides support for the OpenMP standard, which

provides a simple and efficient way to write parallel code in C. OpenMP
is an API that provides a set of pragmas and functions for parallelizing
Open in app
loops and tasks, and it provides a simple way to manage parallelism in C.
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3. Parallel Loops: Cython provides support for parallel loops, which allows
developers to easily parallelize loops in their code. Parallel loops are
automatically executed in parallel, and Cython handles the details of
dividing the loop into parallel parts and managing the execution of each
part.

4. Distributed Computing: Cython provides support for distributed

computing, allowing developers to write code that can take advantage of
multiple processors across multiple computers. This can be especially
useful for large-scale, data-intensive applications, where processing
power is required from multiple sources.

By using these parallelism features in Cython, developers can write parallel

code that takes advantage of multiple processors, without having to manage
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low-level resources such as threads and locks. This makes it possible to write
high-performance, parallel applications with a simple and expressive syntax,
and without having to worry about the complexity and error-proneness that
is often associated with low-level parallel programming in C.

Python Parallel Computing C Distributed Systems

Written by PrimerPy Follow

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www.primerpy.com | A Primer on Python. I'm a veteran Data and Web developer

based out of NYC and DC area. I blog mainly on Python and other tech related
topics.

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