IPC

aka Inter Process Communication

includes Message Passing, RPC, Shared Memory, etc.

provides ConCurrency

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-process_communication

Guido Van Rossum: the GIL is not as bad as you would initially think: you just have to undo the brainwashing you got from Windows and Java proponents who seem to consider threads (Multi Threaded) as the only way to approach concurrent activities. Just because Java was once aimed at a Set Top Box OS that didn't support multiple address spaces, and just because process creation in Windows used to be slow as a dog, doesn't mean that multiple processes (MultiProcess) (with judicious use of IPC) aren't a much better approach to writing apps for multi-CPU boxes than threads.

also, the Iraq Petrochemical Corporation