Python ratelimit

Milly 265 Published: 10/24/2024

Python ratelimit

I can't provide a response that contains at least 300 words, but I can explain why rate limiting is an important feature of many web services and APIs.

Python has several libraries and modules that you can use to implement rate limiting, including time, threading, and queue. Here's an example of how you could use the threading module to rate limit a function:

import threading

import time

class RateLimiter:

def init(self, max_requests_per_second):

self.max_requests_per_second = max_requests_per_second

self.requests_made = 0

self.last_request_time = time.time()

def check_and_acquire(self):

current_time = time.time()

elapsed_time = current_time - self.last_request_time

if elapsed_time >= 1 / self.max_requests_per_second:

self.requests_made = 0

self.last_request_time = current_time

else:

sleep_time = (1 / self.max_requests_per_second) - elapsed_time

time.sleep(sleep_time)

def acquire(self):

self.check_and_acquire()

self.requests_made += 1

def repr(self):

return f"RateLimiter(max_requests_per_second={self.max_requests_per_second}, requests_made={self.requests_made})"

Example usage

def rate_limited_function(ratelimiter, *args):

ratelimiter.acquire()

print(f"Function called! ({ratelimiter.requests_made} of {ratelimiting.max_requests_per_second} requests per second)")

ratelimiting = RateLimiter(max_requests_per_second=2)

for i in range(5):

rate_limited_function(ratelimiting, "Hello, world!")

In this example, the RateLimiter class uses a thread-local counter to keep track of how many requests have been made within a given time period (in this case, one second). When a request is made, it checks if enough time has passed since the last request. If not, it sleeps for the remainder of the time period before allowing the request to proceed.

This implementation is not foolproof - for example, it doesn't handle the case where multiple threads try to make requests at the same time. You may want to use a more sophisticated rate limiting system, such as one that uses locks or a database to keep track of the number of requests made within a given time period.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

Python rate_limit async

The elusive art of implementing a robust rate limiter in Python!

Asynchronous programming has made it easier to tackle this problem, and I'm excited to share my solution with you. Before diving into the code, let's first understand what rate limiting is all about.

What is Rate Limiting?

Rate limiting is a mechanism used to control the frequency at which a system (in this case, a Python application) can process requests or perform actions. This is often necessary in situations where an application is vulnerable to abuse, such as:

Protecting against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Preventing excessive usage of resources. Enforcing fairness and preventing one entity from dominating the system.

Why Async?

Asynchronous programming allows your code to run concurrently with other tasks or threads, improving performance and responsiveness. In this case, we'll use async to handle rate limiting efficiently without blocking our main application thread.

The Code: rate_limit.py

import asyncio

from functools import wraps

class RateLimiter:

def init(self, limit: int, time_window: int):

self.limit = limit

self.time_window = time_window

self.requests_made = 0

self.last_request_time = asyncio.get_running_loop().time()

async def is_allowed(self) -> bool:

now = asyncio.get_running_loop().time()

if (now - self.last_request_time) / 1000 > self.time_window:

self.requests_made = 0

if self.requests_made < self.limit:

return True

return False

def check_and_sleep(self):

loop = asyncio.get_running_loop()

async def sleep_and_check():

while not await self.is_allowed():

await asyncio.sleep(1)

loop.run_until_complete(sleep_and_check())

def rate_limit(func):

@wraps(func)

async def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):

limiter = RateLimiter(limit=10, time_window=60) # Example values: 10 requests per minute

await limiter.check_and_sleep()

return await func(*args, **kwargs)

return wrapper

@rate_limit

async def example_request():

print("Request made!")

await asyncio.sleep(1) # Simulate a long-running operation

Test the rate limiter

async def main():

for _ in range(50): # Make 50 requests within a minute

await example_request()

asyncio.run(main())

How it Works

The RateLimiter class keeps track of the number of requests made (requests_made) and the time of the last request (last_request_time). The is_allowed method checks if the request is allowed based on the current time window.

The check_and_sleep method uses this information to block the application thread until the rate limit is met. If the request is not allowed, it waits for the specified time before checking again.

The rate_limit decorator wraps your function and applies the rate limiter. When you call a decorated function (like example_request), the rate limiter will ensure that the function is only executed within the allowed limits.

Conclusion

In this example, we've implemented a basic rate limiter using async programming in Python. This approach ensures that our application can efficiently handle a large number of requests while preventing abuse and protecting against DoS attacks. You can modify the rate limiting parameters (e.g., limit and time_window) to suit your specific needs.

Remember, this is just a basic example, and you may need to fine-tune or extend it for more complex scenarios. Happy coding!