Can Python pickle lambda functions?

python python-2.7 lambda pickle
Lars picture Lars · Aug 17, 2014 · Viewed 51.2k times · Source

I have read in a number of threads that Python pickle/cPickle cannot pickle lambda functions. However the following code works, using Python 2.7.6:

import cPickle as pickle

if __name__ == "__main__":
    s = pickle.dumps(lambda x, y: x+y)
    f = pickle.loads(s)
    assert f(3,4) == 7

So what is going on? Or, rather, what is the limit of pickling lambdas?

[EDIT] I think i know why this code runs. I forgot (sorry!) i am running stackless python, which has a form of micro-threads called tasklets executing a function. These tasklets can be halted, pickled, unpickled and continued, so i guess (asked on the stackless mailing list) that it also provides a way to pickle function bodies.

Answer

Mike McKerns picture Mike McKerns · Aug 17, 2014

Yes, python can pickle lambda functions… but only if you have something that uses copy_reg to register how to pickle lambda functions -- the package dill loads the copy_reg you need into the pickle registry for you, when you import dill.

Python 2.7.8 (default, Jul 13 2014, 02:29:54) 
[GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple Clang 4.1 ((tags/Apple/clang-421.11.66))] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> 
>>> import dill  # the code below will fail without this line
>>> 
>>> import pickle
>>> s = pickle.dumps(lambda x, y: x+y)
>>> f = pickle.loads(s)
>>> assert f(3,4) == 7
>>> f
<function <lambda> at 0x10aebdaa0>

get dill here: https://github.com/uqfoundation

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