diff --git a/README.md b/README.md deleted file mode 100644 index 5e46630..0000000 --- a/README.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2 +0,0 @@ -# tractor -async, multicore, distributed Python built on trio diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc304b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.rst @@ -0,0 +1,635 @@ +tractor +======= +An async-native `actor model`_ built on trio_ and multiprocessing_. + + +|travis| + +.. |travis| image:: https://img.shields.io/travis/tgoodlet/tractor/master.svg + :target: https://travis-ci.org/tgoodlet/tractor + +.. _actor model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor_model +.. _trio: https://github.com/python-trio/trio +.. _multiprocessing: https://docs.python.org/3/library/multiprocessing.html +.. _trionic: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/design.html#high-level-design-principles +.. _async sandwich: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorial.html#async-sandwich +.. _always propagate: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/design.html#exceptions-always-propagate +.. _causality: https://vorpus.org/blog/some-thoughts-on-asynchronous-api-design-in-a-post-asyncawait-world/#c-c-c-c-causality-breaker +.. _shared nothing architecture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared-nothing_architecture +.. _cancellation: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference-core.html#cancellation-and-timeouts +.. _channels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_(programming) +.. _chaos engineering: http://principlesofchaos.org/ + + +What's this? Spawning event loops in subprocesses? +-------------------------------------------------- +Close, but not quite. + +``tractor`` is an attempt to take trionic_ concurrency concepts and apply +them to distributed multi-core Python. + +``tractor`` lets you run and spawn *actors*: separate processes which run a ``trio`` +scheduler and task tree (also known as an `async sandwich`_). +*Actors* communicate by sending messages_ over channels_ and avoid sharing any state. +This `actor model`_ allows for highly distributed software architecture which works just as +well on multiple cores as it does over many hosts. +``tractor`` takes much inspiration from pulsar_ and execnet_ but attempts to be much more +focussed on sophistication of the lower level distributed architecture +as well as have first class support for modern async Python. +``tractor`` does **not** use ``asyncio`` hence **no** event loops. + +The first step to grok ``tractor`` is to get the basics of ``trio`` +down. A great place to start is the `trio docs`_ and this `blog post`_ +by njsmith_. + +.. _messages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_passing +.. _trio docs: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ +.. _blog post: https://vorpus.org/blog/notes-on-structured-concurrency-or-go-statement-considered-harmful/ +.. _njsmith: https://github.com/njsmith/ + + +Philosophy +---------- +``tractor``'s tenets non-comprehensively include: + +- no spawning of processes *willy-nilly*; causality_ is paramount! +- `shared nothing architecture`_ +- remote errors `always propagate`_ back to the caller +- verbatim support for ``trio``'s cancellation_ system +- no use of *proxy* objects to wrap RPC calls +- an immersive debugging experience +- anti-fragility through `chaos engineering`_ + +.. warning:: ``tractor`` is in alpha-alpha and is expected to change rapidly! + Expect nothing to be set in stone. Your ideas about where it should go + are greatly appreciated! + +.. _pulsar: http://quantmind.github.io/pulsar/design.html +.. _execnet: https://codespeak.net/execnet/ + + +Install +------- +No PyPi release yet! + +:: + + pip install git+git://github.com/tgoodlet/tractor.git + + +A trynamic first scene +---------------------- +Let's direct a couple *actors* and have them run their lines for +the hip new film we're shooting: + +.. code:: python + + import tractor + from functools import partial + + _this_module = __name__ + the_line = 'Hi my name is {}' + + + async def hi(): + return the_line.format(tractor.current_actor().name) + + + async def say_hello(other_actor): + await trio.sleep(0.4) # wait for other actor to spawn + async with tractor.find_actor(other_actor) as portal: + return await portal.run(_this_module, 'hi') + + + async def main(): + """Main tractor entry point, the "master" process (for now + acts as the "director"). + """ + async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + print("Alright... Action!") + + donny = await n.run_in_actor( + 'donny', + say_hello, + other_actor='gretchen', + ) + gretchen = await n.run_in_actor( + 'gretchen', + say_hello, + other_actor='donny', + ) + print(await gretchen.result()) + print(await donny.result()) + await donny.cancel_actor() + print("CUTTTT CUUTT CUT!!! Donny!! You're supposed to say...") + + + tractor.run(main) + + +We spawn two *actors*, *donny* and *gretchen*. +Each actor starts up and executes their *main task* defined by an +async function, ``say_hello()``. The function instructs each actor +to find their partner and say hello by calling their partner's +``hi()`` function using something called a *portal*. Each actor +receives a response and relays that back to the parent actor (in +this case our "director" executing ``main()``). + + +Actor spawning and causality +---------------------------- +``tractor`` tries to take ``trio``'s concept of causal task lifetimes +to multi-process land. Accordingly, ``tractor``'s *actor nursery* behaves +similar to ``trio``'s nursery_. That is, ``tractor.open_nursery()`` +opens an ``ActorNursery`` which waits on spawned *actors* to complete +(or error) in the same causal_ way ``trio`` waits on spawned subtasks. +This includes errors from any one actor causing all other actors +spawned by the same nursery to be cancelled_. + +To spawn an actor and run a function in it, open a *nursery block* +and use the ``run_in_actor()`` method: + +.. code:: python + + import tractor + + + def cellar_door(): + return "Dang that's beautiful" + + + async def main(): + """The main ``tractor`` routine. + """ + async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + + portal = await n.run_in_actor('frank', movie_theatre_question) + + # The ``async with`` will unblock here since the 'frank' + # actor has completed its main task ``movie_theatre_question()``. + + print(await portal.result()) + + + tractor.run(main) + + +What's going on? + +- an initial *actor* is started with ``tractor.run()`` and told to execute + its main task_: ``main()`` + +- inside ``main()`` an actor is *spawned* using an ``ActorNusery`` and is told + to run a single function: ``cellar_door()`` + +- a ``portal`` instance (we'll get to what it is shortly) + returned from ``nursery.run_in_actor()`` is used to communicate with + the newly spawned *sub-actor* + +- the second actor, *frank*, in a new *process* running a new ``trio`` task_ + then executes ``cellar_door()`` and returns its result over a *channel* back + to the parent actor + +- the parent actor retrieves the subactor's (*frank*) *final result* using ``portal.result()`` + much like you'd expect from a future_. + +This ``run_in_actor()`` API should look very familiar to users of +``asyncio``'s run_in_executor_ which uses a ``concurrent.futures`` Executor_. + +Since you might also want to spawn long running *worker* or *daemon* +actors, each actor's *lifetime* can be determined based on the spawn +method: + +- if the actor is spawned using ``run_in_actor()`` it terminates when + its *main* task completes (i.e. when the (async) function submitted + to it *returns*). The ``with tractor.open_nursery()`` exits only once + all actors' main function/task complete (just like the nursery_ in ``trio``) + +- actors can be spawned to *live forever* using the ``start_actor()`` + method and act like an RPC daemon that runs indefinitely (the + ``with tractor.open_nursery()`` wont' exit) until cancelled_ + +Had we wanted the latter form in our example it would have looked like: + +.. code:: python + + def movie_theatre_question(): + """A question asked in a dark theatre, in a tangent + (errr, I mean different) process. + """ + return 'have you ever seen a portal?' + + + async def main(): + """The main ``tractor`` routine. + """ + async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + + portal = await n.start_actor( + 'frank', + # enable the actor to run funcs from this current module + rpc_module_paths=[__name__], + ) + + print(await portal.run(__name__, 'movie_theatre_question')) + # call the subactor a 2nd time + print(await portal.run(__name__, 'movie_theatre_question')) + + # the async with will block here indefinitely waiting + # for our actor "frank" to complete, but since it's an + # "outlive_main" actor it will never end until cancelled + await portal.cancel_actor() + + +The ``rpc_module_paths`` `kwarg` above is a list of module path +strings that will be loaded and made accessible for execution in the +remote actor through a call to ``Portal.run()``. For now this is +a simple mechanism to restrict the functionality of the remote +(and possibly daemonized) actor and uses Python's module system to +limit the allowed remote function namespace(s). + +``tractor`` is opinionated about the underlying threading model used for +each *actor*. Since Python has a GIL and an actor model by definition +shares no state between actors, it fits naturally to use a multiprocessing_ +``Process``. This allows ``tractor`` programs to leverage not only multi-core +hardware but also distribute over many hardware hosts (each *actor* can talk +to all others with ease over standard network protocols). + +.. _task: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference-core.html#tasks-let-you-do-multiple-things-at-once +.. _nursery: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference-core.html#nurseries-and-spawning +.. _causal: https://vorpus.org/blog/some-thoughts-on-asynchronous-api-design-in-a-post-asyncawait-world/#causality +.. _cancelled: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference-core.html#child-tasks-and-cancellation +.. _run_in_executor: https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio-eventloop.html#executor +.. _Executor: https://docs.python.org/3/library/concurrent.futures.html#concurrent.futures.Executor + + +Transparent remote function calling using *portals* +--------------------------------------------------- +``tractor`` introduces the concept of a *portal* which is an API +borrowed_ from ``trio``. A portal may seem similar to the idea of +a RPC future_ except a *portal* allows invoking remote *async* functions and +generators and intermittently blocking to receive responses. This allows +for fully async-native IPC between actors. + +When you invoke another actor's routines using a *portal* it looks as though +it was called locally in the current actor. So when you see a call to +``await portal.run()`` what you get back is what you'd expect +to if you'd called the function directly in-process. This approach avoids +the need to add any special RPC *proxy* objects to the library by instead just +relying on the built-in (async) function calling semantics and protocols of Python. + +Depending on the function type ``Portal.run()`` tries to +correctly interface exactly like a local version of the remote +built-in Python *function type*. Currently async functions, generators, +and regular functions are supported. Inspiration for this API comes +from the way execnet_ does `remote function execution`_ but without +the client code (necessarily) having to worry about the underlying +channels_ system or shipping code over the network. + +This *portal* approach turns out to be paricularly exciting with the +introduction of `asynchronous generators`_ in Python 3.6! It means that +actors can compose nicely in a data processing pipeline. + +As an example here's an actor that streams for 1 second from a remote async +generator function running in a separate actor: + +.. code:: python + + from itertools import repeat + import trio + import tractor + + + async def stream_forever(): + for i in repeat("I can see these little future bubble things"): + # each yielded value is sent over the ``Channel`` to the + # parent actor + yield i + await trio.sleep(0.01) + + + async def main(): + # stream for at most 1 seconds + with trio.move_on_after(1) as cancel_scope: + async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + portal = await n.start_actor( + f'donny', + rpc_module_paths=[__name__], + ) + + # this async for loop streams values from the above + # async generator running in a separate process + async for letter in await portal.run(__name__, 'stream_forever'): + print(letter) + + # we support trio's cancellation system + assert cancel_scope.cancelled_caught + assert n.cancelled + + + tractor.run(main) + + +Alright, let's get fancy. + +Say you wanted to spawn two actors which each pulling data feeds from +two different sources (and wanted this work spread across 2 cpus). +You also want to aggregate these feeds, do some processing on them and then +deliver the final result stream to a client (or in this case parent) actor +and print the results to your screen: + +.. code:: python + + import time + import trio + import tractor + + + # this is the first 2 actors, streamer_1 and streamer_2 + async def stream_data(seed): + for i in range(seed): + yield i + await trio.sleep(0) # trigger scheduler + + + # this is the third actor; the aggregator + async def aggregate(seed): + """Ensure that the two streams we receive match but only stream + a single set of values to the parent. + """ + async with tractor.open_nursery() as nursery: + portals = [] + for i in range(1, 3): + # fork point + portal = await nursery.start_actor( + name=f'streamer_{i}', + rpc_module_paths=[__name__], + ) + + portals.append(portal) + + q = trio.Queue(500) + + async def push_to_q(portal): + async for value in await portal.run( + __name__, 'stream_data', seed=seed + ): + # leverage trio's built-in backpressure + await q.put(value) + + await q.put(None) + print(f"FINISHED ITERATING {portal.channel.uid}") + + # spawn 2 trio tasks to collect streams and push to a local queue + async with trio.open_nursery() as n: + for portal in portals: + n.start_soon(push_to_q, portal) + + unique_vals = set() + async for value in q: + if value not in unique_vals: + unique_vals.add(value) + # yield upwards to the spawning parent actor + yield value + + if value is None: + break + + assert value in unique_vals + + print("FINISHED ITERATING in aggregator") + + await nursery.cancel() + print("WAITING on `ActorNursery` to finish") + print("AGGREGATOR COMPLETE!") + + + # this is the main actor and *arbiter* + async def main(): + # a nursery which spawns "actors" + async with tractor.open_nursery() as nursery: + + seed = int(1e3) + import time + pre_start = time.time() + + portal = await nursery.run_in_actor( + 'aggregator', + aggregate, + seed=seed, + ) + + start = time.time() + # the portal call returns exactly what you'd expect + # as if the remote "aggregate" function was called locally + result_stream = [] + async for value in await portal.result(): + result_stream.append(value) + + print(f"STREAM TIME = {time.time() - start}") + print(f"STREAM + SPAWN TIME = {time.time() - pre_start}") + assert result_stream == list(range(seed)) + [None] + return result_stream + + + final_stream = tractor.run(main, arbiter_addr=('127.0.0.1', 1616)) + + +Here there's four actors running in separate processes (using all the +cores on you machine). Two are streaming by *yielding* values from the +``stream_data()`` async generator, one is aggregating values from +those two in ``aggregate()`` (also an async generator) and shipping the +single stream of unique values up the parent actor (the ``'MainProcess'`` +as ``multiprocessing`` calls it) which is running ``main()``. + +.. _future: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futures_and_promises +.. _borrowed: + https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference-core.html#getting-back-into-the-trio-thread-from-another-thread +.. _asynchronous generators: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0525/ +.. _remote function execution: https://codespeak.net/execnet/example/test_info.html#remote-exec-a-function-avoiding-inlined-source-part-i +.. _asyncitertools: https://github.com/vodik/asyncitertools + + +Cancellation +------------ +``tractor`` supports ``trio``'s cancellation_ system verbatim. +Cancelling a nursery block cancels all actors spawned by it. +Eventually ``tractor`` plans to support different `supervision strategies`_ like ``erlang``. + +.. _supervision strategies: http://erlang.org/doc/man/supervisor.html#sup_flags + + +Remote error propagation +------------------------ +Any task invoked in a remote actor should ship any error(s) back to the calling +actor where it is raised and expected to be dealt with. This way remote actors +are never cancelled unless explicitly asked or there's a bug in ``tractor`` itself. + +.. code:: python + + async def assert_err(): + assert 0 + + + async def main(): + async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + real_actors = [] + for i in range(3): + real_actors.append(await n.start_actor( + f'actor_{i}', + rpc_module_paths=[__name__], + )) + + # start one actor that will fail immediately + await n.run_in_actor('extra', assert_err) + + # should error here with a ``RemoteActorError`` containing + # an ``AssertionError`` and all the other actors have been cancelled + + try: + # also raises + tractor.run(main) + except tractor.RemoteActorError: + print("Look Maa that actor failed hard, hehhh!") + + +You'll notice the nursery cancellation conducts a *one-cancels-all* +supervisory strategy `exactly like trio`_. The plan is to add more +`erlang strategies`_ in the near future by allowing nurseries to accept +a ``Supervisor`` type. + +.. _exactly like trio: https://trio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference-core.html#cancellation-semantics +.. _erlang strategies: http://learnyousomeerlang.com/supervisors + + +Shared task state +----------------- +Although ``tractor`` uses a *shared-nothing* architecture between processes +you can of course share state within an actor. ``trio`` tasks spawned via +multiple RPC calls to an actor can access global data using the per actor +``statespace`` dictionary: + +.. code:: python + + + statespace = {'doggy': 10} + + + def check_statespace(): + # Remember this runs in a new process so no changes + # will propagate back to the parent actor + assert tractor.current_actor().statespace == statespace + + + async def main(): + async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + await n.run_in_actor( + 'checker', + check_statespace, + statespace=statespace + ) + + +Of course you don't have to use the ``statespace`` variable (it's mostly +a convenience for passing simple data to newly spawned actors); building +out a state sharing system per-actor is totally up to you. + + +How do actors find each other (a poor man's *service discovery*)? +----------------------------------------------------------------- +Though it will be built out much more in the near future, ``tractor`` +currently keeps track of actors by ``(name: str, id: str)`` using a +special actor called the *arbiter*. Currently the *arbiter* must exist +on a host (or it will be created if one can't be found) and keeps a +simple ``dict`` of actor names to sockets for discovery by other actors. +Obviously this can be made more sophisticated (help me with it!) but for +now it does the trick. + +To find the arbiter from the current actor use the ``get_arbiter()`` function and to +find an actor's socket address by name use the ``find_actor()`` function: + +.. code:: python + + import tractor + + + async def main(service_name): + + async with tractor.get_arbiter() as portal: + print(f"Arbiter is listening on {portal.channel}") + + async with tractor.find_actor(service_name) as sockaddr: + print(f"my_service is found at {my_service}") + + + tractor.run(main, service_name) + + +The ``name`` value you should pass to ``find_actor()`` is the one you passed as the +*first* argument to either ``tractor.run()`` or ``ActorNursery.start_actor()``. + + +Using ``Channel`` directly (undocumented) +----------------------------------------- +You can use the ``Channel`` api if necessary by simply defining a +``chan`` and ``cid`` *kwarg* in your async function definition. +``tractor`` will treat such async functions like async generators on +the calling side (for now anyway) such that you can push stream values +a little more granularly if you find *yielding* values to be restrictive. +I am purposely not documenting this feature with code because I'm not yet +sure yet how it should be used correctly. If you'd like more details +please feel free to ask me on the `trio gitter channel`_. + + +Running actors standalone (without spawning) +-------------------------------------------- +You don't have to spawn any actors using ``open_nursery()`` if you just +want to run a single actor that connects to an existing cluster. +All the comms and arbiter registration stuff still works. This can +somtimes turn out being handy when debugging mult-process apps when you +need to hop into a debugger. You just need to pass the existing +*arbiter*'s socket address you'd like to connect to: + +.. code:: python + + tractor.run(main, arbiter_addr=('192.168.0.10', 1616)) + + +Enabling logging +---------------- +Considering how complicated distributed software can become it helps to know +what exactly it's doing (even at the lowest levels). Luckily ``tractor`` has +tons of logging throughout the core. ``tractor`` isn't opinionated on +how you use this information and users are expected to consume log messages in +whichever way is appropriate for the system at hand. That being said, when hacking +on ``tractor`` there is a prettified console formatter which you can enable to +see what the heck is going on. Just put the following somewhere in your code: + +.. code:: python + + from tractor.log import get_console_log + log = get_console_log('trace') + + +What the future holds +--------------------- +Stuff I'd like to see ``tractor`` do one day: + +- erlang-like supervisors_ +- native support for zeromq_ as a channel transport +- native `gossip protocol`_ support for service discovery and arbiter election +- a distributed log ledger for tracking cluster behaviour +- a slick multi-process aware debugger much like in celery_ + but with better `pdb++`_ support +- an extensive `chaos engineering`_ test suite +- support for reactive programming primitives and native support for asyncitertools_ like libs + +If you're interested in tackling any of these please do shout about it on the +`trio gitter channel`_! + +.. _supervisors: http://learnyousomeerlang.com/supervisors +.. _zeromq: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZeroMQ +.. _gossip protocol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossip_protocol +.. _trio gitter channel: https://gitter.im/python-trio/general +.. _celery: http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/debugging.html +.. _pdb++: https://github.com/antocuni/pdb diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py index e9cc810..c3001cf 100755 --- a/setup.py +++ b/setup.py @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ # along with this program. If not, see . from setuptools import setup -with open('README.md', encoding='utf-8') as f: +with open('README.rst', encoding='utf-8') as f: readme = f.read() diff --git a/tests/test_tractor.py b/tests/test_tractor.py index 8fbd22c..3683123 100644 --- a/tests/test_tractor.py +++ b/tests/test_tractor.py @@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ def test_remote_error(arb_addr): async def stream_forever(): for i in repeat("I can see these little future bubble things"): + # each yielded value is sent over the ``Channel`` to the + # parent actor yield i await trio.sleep(0.01) @@ -175,16 +177,20 @@ async def stream_forever(): @tractor_test async def test_cancel_infinite_streamer(): - # stream for at most 5 seconds + # stream for at most 1 seconds with trio.move_on_after(1) as cancel_scope: async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: portal = await n.start_actor( f'donny', rpc_module_paths=[__name__], ) + + # this async for loop streams values from the above + # async generator running in a separate process async for letter in await portal.run(__name__, 'stream_forever'): print(letter) + # we support trio's cancellation system assert cancel_scope.cancelled_caught assert n.cancelled @@ -230,6 +236,7 @@ async def test_movie_theatre_convo(): """The main ``tractor`` routine. """ async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + portal = await n.start_actor( 'frank', # enable the actor to run funcs from this current module @@ -237,7 +244,7 @@ async def test_movie_theatre_convo(): ) print(await portal.run(__name__, 'movie_theatre_question')) - # calls the subactor a 2nd time + # call the subactor a 2nd time print(await portal.run(__name__, 'movie_theatre_question')) # the async with will block here indefinitely waiting @@ -246,17 +253,6 @@ async def test_movie_theatre_convo(): await portal.cancel_actor() -@tractor_test -async def test_movie_theatre_convo_main_task(): - async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: - portal = await n.run_in_actor('frank', movie_theatre_question) - - # The ``async with`` will unblock here since the 'frank' - # actor has completed its main task ``movie_theatre_question()``. - - print(await portal.result()) - - def cellar_door(): return "Dang that's beautiful" @@ -266,6 +262,7 @@ async def test_most_beautiful_word(): """The main ``tractor`` routine. """ async with tractor.open_nursery() as n: + portal = await n.run_in_actor('some_linguist', cellar_door) # The ``async with`` will unblock here since the 'some_linguist' @@ -295,12 +292,14 @@ def test_cancel_single_subactor(arb_addr): tractor.run(main, arbiter_addr=arb_addr) +# this is the first 2 actors, streamer_1 and streamer_2 async def stream_data(seed): for i in range(seed): yield i await trio.sleep(0) # trigger scheduler +# this is the third actor; the aggregator async def aggregate(seed): """Ensure that the two streams we receive match but only stream a single set of values to the parent. @@ -352,6 +351,7 @@ async def aggregate(seed): print("AGGREGATOR COMPLETE!") +# this is the main actor and *arbiter* async def a_quadruple_example(): # a nursery which spawns "actors" async with tractor.open_nursery() as nursery: @@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ async def a_quadruple_example(): start = time.time() # the portal call returns exactly what you'd expect - # as if the remote "main" function was called locally + # as if the remote "aggregate" function was called locally result_stream = [] async for value in await portal.result(): result_stream.append(value)