How Can I Prevent a Third-Party Function Call from Blocking My Application for Too Long?

Limiting Execution Time of a Function Call

In the presence of a blocking function call from a third-party module, it's essential to address the issue of potentially extended execution times. To limit the function's execution time, we can leverage multithreading.

Solution:

The most effective approach involves creating a separate thread to execute the function call. This thread can be designed to monitor the execution time and terminate the function if it exceeds a predefined threshold.

Implementation:

To implement this solution, a Threading class can be utilized in Python. A timer can be set within the thread, and if the function call is still executing once the timer expires, the thread can force the function to terminate. The main thread can then handle the timeout exception and take appropriate action.

Example:

Here's an example that demonstrates the usage of the Threading class:

import threading
import time

# Define the function call that may block for extended periods
def long_function_call():
    time.sleep(300)

# Set the maximum execution time in seconds
max_execution_time = 10

# Create a thread to execute the function call
thread = threading.Thread(target=long_function_call, name="Long Function Call")

# Start the thread
thread.start()

# Set a timer to check for timeout
timer = threading.Timer(max_execution_time, thread.join)
timer.start()

# Wait for either the thread to finish or the timer to expire
if thread.is_alive():  # The thread timed out
    print("Function call timed out!")
    timer.cancel()
    thread.join()
else:  # Function call completed within the time limit
    print("Function call completed successfully.")

This approach provides a robust method to limit the execution time of an uncontrollable function call, ensuring timely execution and preventing protracted blocking.

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