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gh-138644: docs/c-api: Fix outdated PyInterpreterState doc about shared GIL #138650

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gh-138644: docs/c-api: Fix outdated PyInterpreterState doc about shared GIL #138650

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Doc/c-api: GIL is no longer shared between subinterpreters
Oberon00 Sep 8, 2025
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Oberon00 Sep 8, 2025
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11 changes: 7 additions & 4 deletions Doc/c-api/init.rst
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Expand Up @@ -1016,9 +1016,10 @@ code, or when embedding the Python interpreter:
this structure.

Threads belonging to different interpreters initially share nothing, except
process state like available memory, open file descriptors and such. The global
interpreter lock is also shared by all threads, regardless of to which
interpreter they belong.
process state like available memory, open file descriptors and such.

.. versionchanged:: 3.12
Each subinterpreter now :ref:`has its own GIL <per-interpreter-gil>`.
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We should mention that this is still an optional feature. Legacy subinterpreters (Py_NewInterpreter) still share the GIL.

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I agree. Let's specify that it is configurable. Different interpreters can share gil or create one per interpreter.



.. c:type:: PyThreadState
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1711,6 +1712,8 @@ function. You can create and destroy them using the following functions:
haven't been explicitly destroyed at that point.


.. _per-interpreter-gil:

A Per-Interpreter GIL
---------------------

Expand All @@ -1722,7 +1725,7 @@ being blocked by other interpreters or blocking any others. Thus a
single Python process can truly take advantage of multiple CPU cores
when running Python code. The isolation also encourages a different
approach to concurrency than that of just using threads.
(See :pep:`554`.)
(See :pep:`554` and :pep:`684`.)

Using an isolated interpreter requires vigilance in preserving that
isolation. That especially means not sharing any objects or mutable
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