Build a Simple Python Thrift Server and Client: Step‑by‑Step Guide

This article briefly introduces how to build a simple test program with Python using Thrift.

1. Introduction

Thrift is a software framework for developing scalable cross‑language services. It combines a powerful software stack and code generation engine to enable seamless, efficient services among languages such as C++, Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, Erlang, Perl, Haskell, C#, Cocoa, JavaScript, Node.js, Smalltalk, and OCaml.

2. Installation

1. Download address

http://www.apache.org/dyn/closer.cgi?path=/thrift/0.9.2/thrift-0.9.2.tar.gz

2. Install

[root@localhost ~]# yum -y groupinstall "Development Tools"
[root@localhost ~]# yum -y install libevent-devel zlib-devel openssl-devel autoconf automake
[root@localhost ~]# wget http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bison/bison-2.5.1.tar.gz
[root@localhost ~]# tar xf bison-2.5.1.tar.gz
[root@localhost ~]# cd bison-2.5.1
[root@localhost ~]# ./configure --prefix=/usr
[root@localhost ~]# make
[root@localhost ~]# make install
[root@localhost ~]# tar xf thrift-0.9.2.tar.gz
[root@localhost ~]# cd thrift-0.9.2
[root@localhost thrift-0.9.2]# ./configure -with-lua=no

3. Install Python plugin

pip install thrift

3. Prepare Server Side

1. Edit interface file helloworld.thrift :

#!/usr/bin/env python
import socket
import sys
sys.path.append('./gen-py')
from helloworld import HelloWorld
from helloworld.ttypes import *
from thrift.transport import TSocket
from thrift.transport import TTransport
from thrift.protocol import TBinaryProtocol
from thrift.server import TServer

class HelloWorldHandler:
    def ping(self):
        return "pong"
    def say(self, msg):
        ret = "Received: " + msg
        print ret
        return ret

# Create server
handler = HelloWorldHandler()
processor = HelloWorld.Processor(handler)
transport = TSocket.TServerSocket("localhost", 9090)
# Transport layer
tfactory = TTransport.TBufferedTransportFactory()
# Protocol
pfactory = TBinaryProtocol.TBinaryProtocolFactory()
# Server instance
server = TServer.TSimpleServer(processor, transport, tfactory, pfactory)
print "Starting thrift server in python..."
server.serve()
print "done!"

4. Prepare Client Side

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys
sys.path.append('./gen-py')
from helloworld import HelloWorld
from thrift import Thrift
from thrift.transport import TSocket
from thrift.transport import TTransport
from thrift.protocol import TBinaryProtocol

try:
    # Create socket
    transport = TSocket.TSocket('localhost', 9090)
    # Transport layer (must match server)
    transport = TTransport.TBufferedTransport(transport)
    # Protocol (must match server)
    protocol = TBinaryProtocol.TBinaryProtocol(transport)
    # Client
    client = HelloWorld.Client(protocol)
    transport.open()

    print "client - ping"
    print "server - " + client.ping()

    print "client - say"
    msg = client.say("Hello!")
    print "server - " + msg
    transport.close()
except Thrift.TException, ex:
    print "%s" % (ex.message)

PS. This is a small example of a Thrift server and client. Thrift shines when multiple languages are involved; if you work in a single language, its benefits are limited. With Thrift you can call functions from other languages or expose services for them, making cross‑language development convenient.