pylibmc - Python client for memcached

pylibmc is a client in Python for memcached. It is a wrapper around TangentOrg’s libmemcached library.

The interface is intentionally made as close to python-memcached as possible, so that applications can drop-in replace it.

pylibmc leverages among other things configurable behaviors, data pickling, data compression, battle-tested GIL retention, consistent distribution, and the binary memcached protocol.

Example usage

Create a memcached connection and configure it:

>>> import pylibmc
>>> mc = pylibmc.Client(["127.0.0.1"], binary=True,
...                     behaviors={"tcp_nodelay": True,
...                                "ketama": True})

Hint

In earlier versions behaviors was no keyword argument, only an attribute. To safe-guard version compatibility use mc.behaviors = {...}

Basic memcached operations can be accomplished with the mapping interface:

>>> mc["some_key"] = "Some value"
>>> mc["some_key"]
'Some value'
>>> del mc["some_key"]
>>> "some_key" in mc
False

“Classic” style memcached operations allow for more control and clarity:

>>> mc.set("some_key", "Some value")
True
>>> value = mc.get("some_key")
>>> value
'Some value'
>>> mc.set("another_key", 3)
True
>>> mc.delete("another_key")
True

Automatic pickling of complex Python types:

>>> mc.set("complex_plane=awesome", 4+3j)
True
>>> mc.get("complex_plane=awesome")
(4+3j)
>>> import fractions
>>> mc.set("structured", {"a": ("b", "c"),
...                       "a2": fractions.Fraction(1, 3)})
True
>>> mc.get("structured")
{'a': ('b', 'c'), 'a2': Fraction(1, 3)}

Atomic memcached-side increments and decrements:

>>> mc.set("key", "1")  # str or int is fine
True
>>> mc.incr("key")
2L
>>> mc.decr("key")
1L

Batch operations lessen GIL contention and thus I/O is faster:

>>> mc.get_multi(["key", "another_key"])
{'key': '1'}
>>> mc.set_multi({"cats": ["on acid", "furry"], "dogs": True})
[]
>>> mc.get_multi(["cats", "dogs"])
{'cats': ['on acid', 'furry'], 'dogs': True}
>>> mc.delete_multi(["cats", "dogs", "nonextant"])
False