===========
What is it?
===========

The ``zc.async`` package provides **an easy-to-use Python tool that schedules
work persistently and reliably across multiple processes and machines.**

For instance...

- *Web apps*: maybe your web application lets users request the creation of a
  large PDF, or some other expensive task.

- *Postponed work*: maybe you have a job that needs to be done at a certain time,
  not right now.

- *Parallel processing*: maybe you have a long-running problem that can be made
  to complete faster by splitting it up into discrete parts, each performed in
  parallel, across multiple machines.

- *Serial processing*: maybe you want to decompose and serialize a job.

High-level features include the following:

- easy to use;

- flexible configuration, changeable dynamically in production;

- reliable;

- supports high availability;

- good debugging tools;

- well-tested; and

- friendly to testing.

While developed as part of the Zope project, zc.async can be used stand-alone.

=================
How does it work?
=================

The system uses the Zope Object Database (ZODB), a transactional, pickle-based
Python object database, for communication and coordination among participating
processes.

zc.async participants can each run in their own process, or share a process
(run in threads) with other code.

The Twisted framework supplies some code (failures and reactor implementations,
primarily) and some concepts to the package.

======================
Where can I read more?
======================

Quickstarts and in-depth documentation are available in the package and in
the `new and exciting on-line documentation`_.

.. _`new and exciting on-line documentation`: http://packages.python.org/zc.async/1.5.0/