Threading in a PyQt application: Use Qt threads or Python threads?
I'm writing a GUI application that regularly retrieves data through a web connection. Since this retrieval takes a while, this causes the UI to be unresponsive during the retrieval process (it cannot be split into smaller parts). This is why I'd like to outsource the web connection to a separate worker thread.
[Yes, I know, now I have two problems.]
Anyway, the application uses PyQt4, so I'd like to know what the better choice is: Use Qt's threads or use the Python threading module? What are advantages / disadvantages of each? Or do you have a totally different suggestion?
Edit (re bounty): While the solution in my particular case will probably be using a non-blocking network request like Jeff Ober and Lukáš Lalinský suggested (so basically leaving the concurrency problems to the networking implementation), I'd still like a more in-depth answer to the general question:
What are advantages and disadvantages of using PyQt4's (i.e. Qt's) threads over native Python threads (from the threading module)?
Edit 2: Thanks all for you answers. Although there's no 100% agreement, there seems to be widespread consensus that the answer is "use Qt", since the advantage of that is integration with the rest of the library, while causing no real disadvantages.
For anyone looking to choose between the two threading implementations, I highly recommend they read all the answers provided here, including the PyQt mailing list thread that abbot links to.
There were several answers I considered for the bounty; in the end I chose abbot's for the very relevant external reference; it was, however, a close call.
Thanks again.
Answer
This was discussed not too long ago in PyQt mailing list. Quoting Giovanni Bajo's comments on the subject:
It's mostly the same. The main difference is that QThreads are better integrated with Qt (asynchrnous signals/slots, event loop, etc.). Also, you can't use Qt from a Python thread (you can't for instance post event to the main thread through QApplication.postEvent): you need a QThread for that to work.
A general rule of thumb might be to use QThreads if you're going to interact somehow with Qt, and use Python threads otherwise.
And some earlier comment on this subject from PyQt's author: "they are both wrappers around the same native thread implementations". And both implementations use GIL in the same way.