concurrency.py

# Standard library imports
import threading
import queue

class ConcurrentFunction:
	def __init__(self, function, args=(), kwargs={}):
		self.function = function
		self.args = args
		self.kwargs = kwargs

	def run(self, results_queue, *args, **kwargs):
		result = self.function(*args, **kwargs)
		results_queue.put(result)

def run_concurrently(concurrent_functions):
	results_queue = queue.Queue()
	results = []

	for concurrent_function in concurrent_functions:
		threading.Thread(
			target=concurrent_function.run,
			args=(results_queue, *concurrent_function.args),
			kwargs=concurrent_function.kwargs).start()

	while len(results) < len(concurrent_functions):
		results.append(results_queue.get())

	return results

'''
The purpose behind this is to take multiple calls to a time-consuming function (with different
inputs) and run them all at once without the need for custom implementation. We return a list of
similar results that can be dealt with in any way the caller wants. HOWEVER, there is no guarantee
that the order of the results will match the order of the input functions.

Usage:

```python
import concurrency

def get_echo(string='Ada Lovelace'):
	return string

results = concurrency.run_concurrently([
	concurrency.ConcurrentFunction(get_echo),
	concurrency.ConcurrentFunction(get_echo, ['Ada']),
	concurrency.ConcurrentFunction(get_echo, kwargs={'string': 'Lovelace'})
])

print(results)
# ['Ada Lovelace', 'Ada', 'Lovelace']
```
'''