Simon Willison's Weblog: modpython

Load spikes and excessive memory usage in mod_python

2009-03-16T17:26:59+00:00

Load spikes and excessive memory usage in mod_python

“The final answer? Stop using mod_python, use mod_wsgi and run it with daemon mode instead. You will save yourself a lot of headaches by doing so.”

Tags: apache, graham-dumpleton, modpython, modwsgi, python, wsgi

mod_wsgi 1.0 Release Candiate Available

2007-07-26T20:21:11+00:00

mod_wsgi 1.0 Release Candiate Available

mod_wsgi is shaping up to be an excellent alternative to mod_python.

Tags: django, modpython, modwsgi, python, wsgi

mod_python: Expat Causing Apache Crash

2007-03-27T11:49:14+00:00

mod_python: Expat Causing Apache Crash

We ran in to this problem today.

Tags: apache, django, expat, modpython

Quick Django Benching

2007-02-17T16:56:28+00:00

Quick Django Benching

Django under Apache/mod_python outperforms nginx/FastCGI and LightTPD/FastCGI once you ramp up the concurrency levels. My setup for this site (Apache/mod_python behind an nginx proxy, with nginx handling static files) should give the best of both worlds.

Tags: apache, deployment, django, fastcgi, lighttpd, modpython, nginx

mod_python introduction

2003-10-03T10:22:15+00:00

Introducing mod_python by Gregory Trubetskoy. One of my biggest problems with mod_python is that documentation outside of the mod_python manual is pretty hard to come by. This article is more of an executive overview than a tutorial, but anything that adds to the overall body of knowledge out there concerning mod_python has to be a good thing. I'm hoping to write some material on mod_python best practises at some point in the near future, but I have to work out what they are first. Luckily the project has an active and very helpful mailing list.

Tags: modpython, python

On mod_python

2003-08-29T04:31:38+00:00

So, I'm getting stuck in to mod_python in a pretty big way at the moment. I've never even used mod_perl before, so coming from PHP this is turning out to be a real eye opener.

The key thing to realise about mod_python is that it gives you full control over the whole Apache request. Unlike PHP, you're not writing scripts that just happen to use Apache as a go between - mod_python exposes a pretty big chunk of Apache's internal API, and you are expected to hook straight in to it and start doing things. This certainly takes a while to get used to, but comes with some pretty big benefits. For one thing, your code is loaded once (well, once by each Apache process) and stays in memory. This means that global variables within your scripts persist between requests! Unfortunately, each Apache process (of which there are usually quite a few) has its own copy of the code so you can't use this persistence ability for things like sessions, but it's great for pooling database connections and keeping unchanging data such as templates in memory.

You can write your own handlers for the various parts of the Apache request. So far I've only been playing with the handler that serves up content, but it's possible to do things like create a handler for the "Authentication" phase that authenticates users in some special way.

My biggest worry at the moment concerns the relative lack of documentation for mod_python on the web - the manual is pretty good, but other than that there's precious little to get your teeth in to. Luckily the module has a reasonably high traffic mailing list which has so far answered all of the questions I've thrown at it promptly and in great detail. I hope to write more about mod_python as I become more comfortable with it. If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them.

Tags: apache, modpython, python

mod_python donated to the ASF

2002-09-13T17:53:20+00:00

mod_python has been donated to the Apache Software Foundation. This is excellent news - I have always been slightly wary of mod_python as it has a reputation for being unstable, but with the ASF directly supporting it hopefully any stability problems will soon be a thing of the past.

Tags: asf, modpython, python