title: Why is a Python I/O bound task not blocked by the GIL?
body: <p>The <a href="https://docs.python.org/2/library/threading.html">python
  threading</a>
  documentation states that "...threading is still an appropriate model
  if you want to run multiple I/O-bound tasks simultaneously",
  apparently because I/O-bound processes can avoid the GIL that prevents
  threads from concurrent execution in CPU-bound tasks.</p>
  
  <p>But what I dont understand is that an I/O task still uses the CPU. So
  how could it not encounter the same issues? Is it because the I/O
  bound task will not require memory management?</p>