Simple example for a set of workers in Python using a function with multiple arguments (even named ones)

simple_worker.py

# Simple example for a set of workers in Python using a function with multiple
# arguments (even named arguments)

# Sources of information:
# - https://docs.python.org/2/library/multiprocessing.html
# - http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5442910/python-multiprocessing-pool-map-for-multiple-arguments/5443941#5443941

from multiprocessing import Pool, freeze_support
import itertools

def f(x,y,logging = False):
    if logging:
        print "calculating %d*%d" % (x,y)
    return x*y

def f_star(x_y):
    """Convert `f([1,2])` to `f(1,2)` call."""
    return f(x_y[0],x_y[1],logging=x_y[2])

if __name__ == '__main__':
    freeze_support() # Add support for when a program which uses
                     # multiprocessing has been frozen to produce a Windows
                     # executable. (Has been tested with py2exe, PyInstaller
                     # and cx_Freeze.)
    pool = Pool(processes=6)              # start 4 worker processes
    print pool.map(f_star, itertools.izip(range(10),range(10,0,-1),itertools.repeat(True)))