How is the timeout used in Python?

The timeout parameter sets a time limit when invoking certain functions. If the function does not complete within the specified time, a TimeoutError exception will be thrown. This parameter is typically used in function calls where results may take some time to obtain, such as network requests or file reading operations.

For example, when using the requests library to send an HTTP request, you can specify a timeout parameter to determine the maximum waiting time for the request, preventing the program from waiting for a long time.

import requests

try:
    response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', timeout=5)
    # 如果在5秒内没有得到响应，会抛出Timeout异常
except requests.Timeout:
    print('请求超时')

Additionally, the timeout parameter can also be used in processes or threads within the multiprocessing library to set a time limit, preventing processes or threads from blocking for an extended period of time.