""" ======================================== Returning a generator in joblib.Parallel ======================================== This example illustrates memory optimization enabled by using :class:`joblib.Parallel` to get a generator on the outputs of parallel jobs. We first create tasks that return results with large memory footprints. If we call :class:`~joblib.Parallel` for several of these tasks directly, we observe a high memory usage, as all the results are held in RAM before being processed Using ``return_as='generator'`` allows to progressively consume the outputs as they arrive and keeps the memory at an acceptable level. In this case, the output of the `Parallel` call is a generator that yields the results in the order the tasks have been submitted with. If the order of the tasks does not matter (for instance if they are consumed by a commutative aggregation function), then using ``return_as='generator_unordered'`` can be even more efficient. """ ############################################################################## # ``MemoryMonitor`` helper ############################################################################## ############################################################################## # The following class is an helper to monitor the memory of the process and its # children in another thread, so we can display it afterward. # # We will use ``psutil`` to monitor the memory usage in the code. Make sure it # is installed with ``pip install psutil`` for this example. import time from psutil import Process from threading import Thread class MemoryMonitor(Thread): """Monitor the memory usage in MB in a separate thread. Note that this class is good enough to highlight the memory profile of Parallel in this example, but is not a general purpose profiler fit for all cases. """ def __init__(self): super().__init__() self.stop = False self.memory_buffer = [] self.start() def get_memory(self): "Get memory of a process and its children." p = Process() memory = p.memory_info().rss for c in p.children(): memory += c.memory_info().rss return memory def run(self): memory_start = self.get_memory() while not self.stop: self.memory_buffer.append(self.get_memory() - memory_start) time.sleep(0.2) def join(self): self.stop = True super().join() ############################################################################## # Save memory by consuming the outputs of the tasks as fast as possible ############################################################################## ############################################################################## # We create a task whose output takes about 15MB of RAM. # import numpy as np def return_big_object(i): time.sleep(.1) return i * np.ones((10000, 200), dtype=np.float64) ############################################################################## # We create a reduce step. The input will be a generator on big objects # generated in parallel by several instances of ``return_big_object``. def accumulator_sum(generator): result = 0 for value in generator: result += value print(".", end="", flush=True) print("") return result ############################################################################## # We process many of the tasks in parallel. If ``return_as="list"`` (default), # we should expect a usage of more than 2GB in RAM. Indeed, all the results # are computed and stored in ``res`` before being processed by # `accumulator_sum` and collected by the gc. from joblib import Parallel, delayed monitor = MemoryMonitor() print("Running tasks with return_as='list'...") res = Parallel(n_jobs=2, return_as="list")( delayed(return_big_object)(i) for i in range(150) ) print("Accumulate results:", end='') res = accumulator_sum(res) print('All tasks completed and reduced successfully.') # Report memory usage del res # we clean the result to avoid memory border effects monitor.join() peak = max(monitor.memory_buffer) / 1e9 print(f"Peak memory usage: {peak:.2f}GB") ############################################################################## # If we use ``return_as="generator"``, ``res`` is simply a generator on the # results that are ready. Here we consume the results as soon as they arrive # with the ``accumulator_sum`` and once they have been used, they are collected # by the gc. The memory footprint is thus reduced, typically around 300MB. monitor_gen = MemoryMonitor() print("Create result generator with return_as='generator'...") res = Parallel(n_jobs=2, return_as="generator")( delayed(return_big_object)(i) for i in range(150) ) print("Accumulate results:", end='') res = accumulator_sum(res) print('All tasks completed and reduced successfully.') # Report memory usage del res # we clean the result to avoid memory border effects monitor_gen.join() peak = max(monitor_gen.memory_buffer) / 1e6 print(f"Peak memory usage: {peak:.2f}MB") ############################################################################## # We can then report the memory usage accross time of the two runs using the # MemoryMonitor. # # In the first case, as the results accumulate in ``res``, the memory grows # linearly and it is freed once the ``accumulator_sum`` function finishes. # # In the second case, the results are processed by the accumulator as soon as # they arrive, and the memory does not need to be able to contain all # the results. import matplotlib.pyplot as plt plt.figure(0) plt.semilogy( np.maximum.accumulate(monitor.memory_buffer), label='return_as="list"' ) plt.semilogy( np.maximum.accumulate(monitor_gen.memory_buffer), label='return_as="generator"' ) plt.xlabel("Time") plt.xticks([], []) plt.ylabel("Memory usage") plt.yticks([1e7, 1e8, 1e9], ['10MB', '100MB', '1GB']) plt.legend() plt.show() ############################################################################## # It is important to note that with ``return_as="generator"``, the results are # still accumulated in RAM after computation. But as we asynchronously process # them, they can be freed sooner. However, if the generator is not consumed # the memory still grows linearly. ############################################################################## # Further memory efficiency for commutative aggregation ############################################################################## ############################################################################## # There is still room for improving the relief on memory allocation we get # using ``return_as="generator"``. Indeed, notice how the generator of the # previous example respects the order the tasks have been submitted with. This # behavior can cause a build up in memory of results waiting to be consumed, # in case some tasks finished before other tasks despite being submitted # later. The corresponding results will be kept in memory until the slower # tasks submitted earlier are done and have been iterated over. # # In case the downstream consumer of the results is reliant on the assumption # that the results are yielded in the same order that the tasks were submitted, # it can't be helped. But in our example, since the `+` operator is # commutative, the function ``accumulator_sum`` does not need the generator to # return the results with any particular order. In this case it's safe to use # the option ``return_as="generator_unordered"``, so that the results are # returned as soon as a task is completed, ignoring the order of task # submission. # # Beware that the downstream consumer of the results must not expect them be # returned with any deterministic or predictable order at all, since the # progress of the tasks can depend on the availability of the workers, which # can be affected by external events, such as system load, implementation # details in the backend, etc. ############################################################################## # To better highlight improvements in memory usage when using the parameter # ``return_as="generator_unordered"``, let's explcitly add delay in some of # the submitted tasks. def return_big_object_delayed(i): if (i + 20) % 60: time.sleep(0.1) else: time.sleep(5) return i * np.ones((10000, 200), dtype=np.float64) ############################################################################## # Let's check memory usage when using ``return_as="generator"``... monitor_delayed_gen = MemoryMonitor() print("Create result generator on delayed tasks with return_as='generator'...") res = Parallel(n_jobs=2, return_as="generator")( delayed(return_big_object_delayed)(i) for i in range(150) ) print("Accumulate results:", end='') res = accumulator_sum(res) print('All tasks completed and reduced successfully.') # Report memory usage del res # we clean the result to avoid memory border effects monitor_delayed_gen.join() peak = max(monitor_delayed_gen.memory_buffer) / 1e6 print(f"Peak memory usage: {peak:.2f}MB") ############################################################################## # If we use ``return_as="generator_unordered"``, ``res`` will not enforce any # order when returning the results, and will simply enable iterating on the # results as soon as it's available. The peak memory usage is now controlled # to an even lower level, since that results can be consumed immediately # rather than being delayed by the compute of slower tasks that have been # submitted earlier. monitor_delayed_gen_unordered = MemoryMonitor() print( "Create result generator on delayed tasks with " "return_as='generator_unordered'..." ) res = Parallel(n_jobs=2, return_as="generator_unordered")( delayed(return_big_object_delayed)(i) for i in range(150) ) print("Accumulate results:", end='') res = accumulator_sum(res) print('All tasks completed and reduced successfully.') # Report memory usage del res # we clean the result to avoid memory border effects monitor_delayed_gen_unordered.join() peak = max(monitor_delayed_gen_unordered.memory_buffer) / 1e6 print(f"Peak memory usage: {peak:.2f}MB") ############################################################################## # Notice how the plot for ``'return_as="generator'`` now shows a high memory # usage plateau when slow jobs cause a congestion of intermediate results # waiting in RAM before in-order aggregation. This high memory usage is never # observed when using ``'return_as="generator_unordered"``. plt.figure(1) plt.semilogy( np.maximum.accumulate(monitor_delayed_gen.memory_buffer), label='return_as="generator"' ) plt.semilogy( np.maximum.accumulate(monitor_delayed_gen_unordered.memory_buffer), label='return_as="generator_unordered"' ) plt.xlabel("Time") plt.xticks([], []) plt.ylabel("Memory usage") plt.yticks([1e7, 1e8, 1e9], ['10MB', '100MB', '1GB']) plt.legend() plt.show()