A background thread in python with signal control

threading_1.py

import threading
import time
from sys import stdout

# Only data wihtin a class are actually shared by the threads
class Counter(object):
    counter = 0
    stop = False

# Function that will be executed in parallel with the rest of the code
def function_1():
    for i in range(10):
        if c.stop: return # With more will exit faster
        time.sleep(2)
        c.counter += 1
        if c.stop: return

# Create a class instance
c = Counter()

# Thread function_1
d = threading.Thread(target=function_1)
d.start()

# Exit the thread properly before exiting...
try:
    for j in range(100):
#    print 'asd'
        stdout.write('\r{:}'.format(c.counter))
        stdout.flush()
        time.sleep(1)
except:
    c.stop = True