Path: csiph.com!usenet.pasdenom.info!gegeweb.org!de-l.enfer-du-nord.net!feeder2.enfer-du-nord.net!cs.uu.nl!news.stack.nl!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed2.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!newsgate.cistron.nl!newsgate.news.xs4all.nl!post.news.xs4all.nl!not-for-mail Return-Path: X-Original-To: python-list@python.org Delivered-To: python-list@mail.python.org X-Spam-Status: OK 0.019 X-Spam-Evidence: '*H*': 0.96; '*S*': 0.00; 'homepage.': 0.09; 'received:mail-vb0-f46.google.com': 0.09; 'sentence': 0.09; 'threads,': 0.09; 'whole,': 0.09; 'suggest': 0.11; '24,': 0.16; 'arbitrarily': 0.16; 'called,': 0.16; 'segment': 0.16; 'subject: \n ': 0.16; 'urllib': 0.16; 'wrote:': 0.17; 'copied': 0.17; 'received:209.85.212.46': 0.18; 'feb': 0.19; 'meant': 0.21; "python's": 0.23; 'header:In-Reply-To:1': 0.25; 'appear': 0.26; 'am,': 0.27; 'message-id:@mail.gmail.com': 0.27; 'received:209.85.212': 0.28; '"the': 0.29; 'connection': 0.30; 'up.': 0.31; 'function.': 0.33; 'problem': 0.33; 'to:addr:python- list': 0.33; 'received:google.com': 0.34; 'returning': 0.35; 'received:209.85': 0.35; 'client': 0.36; 'rather': 0.37; 'received:209': 0.37; 'to:addr:python.org': 0.39; 'build': 0.39; 'application': 0.40; 'think': 0.40; 'your': 0.60; 'skip:u 10': 0.60; 'subject': 0.66; 'response.': 0.67; 'believe': 0.69; 'subject:The': 0.71; 'sounds': 0.71; '2013': 0.84; 'subject:long': 0.84; 'to:name:python': 0.84 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=x-received:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id :subject:to:content-type; bh=+G6VbdQPsxPuDF4Cz+Zo2KFuhz1+DBxG39UB3RAw/FU=; b=IqNoKhSXRyl/S4X9HrIpxS5YpcPEpdA7AaQWuTIjqTHvxQDS3C8+eJaeBsTDH1gpSj qSo1/PUMoABTVO1XkHJHEb5NlI5+KwcD4rixa8IS1PHd7pX/Rff87iQkbcAJat7mDq/1 bLstoY/mJ8LSEvpZSQRuTRH47kDEv9RHmvCDUVv1TPOy1wF/kzTIq9wbCvCKX4FwQxfO a36AtCWE/R85pDJdz1fPWTcf/DElS+fsO8juvFtEQfZ7hxvHCh2ycJskM5RkaNm3VTn1 oTyK6gSdIhjOra9h+y74wYjPm3hJSGHC7sQR/RHd2F94SlFtz0FeHbKVYfvw09UUi7Z5 rZtw== X-Received: by 10.52.76.103 with SMTP id j7mr5283921vdw.90.1361732149649; Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:55:49 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <9-GdnYm7wMIUz7fMnZ2dnUVZ8rydnZ2d@giganews.com> References: <9-GdnYm7wMIUz7fMnZ2dnUVZ8rydnZ2d@giganews.com> From: Ian Kelly Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2013 11:55:09 -0700 Subject: Re: "The urlopen() and urlretrieve() functions can cause arbitrarily long delays" To: Python Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 X-BeenThere: python-list@python.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion list for the Python programming language List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Message-ID: Lines: 19 NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:888:2000:d::a6 X-Trace: 1361732152 news.xs4all.nl 6900 [2001:888:2000:d::a6]:59674 X-Complaints-To: abuse@xs4all.nl Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:39772 On Sun, Feb 24, 2013 at 10:48 AM, 7segment <7segment@live.com> wrote: > Hi! > > The subject is a segment of a sentence which I copied from Python's > official homepage. In whole, it reads: > > "The urlopen() and urlretrieve() functions can cause arbitrarily long > delays while waiting for a network connection to be set up. This means > that it is difficult to build an interactive Web client using these > functions without using threads." I believe what this is warning about is that if a network connection is not immediately available when the functions are called, they will block while waiting for one rather than returning control to the calling function. If used in an interactive client without threads, this would cause the application to appear to "hang" while urllib waits for a response. I don't think it's meant to suggest that urllib is responsible for the delays; that sounds like a problem with your network configuration.