我们也可以用信号来表示。我认为下面的例子会对你有用。与线程相比，它非常简单。

import signal

def timeout(signum, frame):
    raise myException

#this is an infinite loop, never ending under normal circumstances
def main():
    print 'Starting Main ',
    while 1:
        print 'in main ',

#SIGALRM is only usable on a unix platform
signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, timeout)

#change 5 to however many seconds you need
signal.alarm(5)

try:
    main()
except myException:
    print "whoops"

如果您在UNIX上运行，则可以使用信号包:

In [1]: import signal

# Register an handler for the timeout
In [2]: def handler(signum, frame):
   ...:     print("Forever is over!")
   ...:     raise Exception("end of time")
   ...: 

# This function *may* run for an indetermined time...
In [3]: def loop_forever():
   ...:     import time
   ...:     while 1:
   ...:         print("sec")
   ...:         time.sleep(1)
   ...:         
   ...:         

# Register the signal function handler
In [4]: signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, handler)
Out[4]: 0

# Define a timeout for your function
In [5]: signal.alarm(10)
Out[5]: 0

In [6]: try:
   ...:     loop_forever()
   ...: except Exception, exc: 
   ...:     print(exc)
   ....: 
sec
sec
sec
sec
sec
sec
sec
sec
Forever is over!
end of time

# Cancel the timer if the function returned before timeout
# (ok, mine won't but yours maybe will :)
In [7]: signal.alarm(0)
Out[7]: 0

在调用signal.alarm(10)后10秒，调用处理程序。这会引发一个异常，您可以从常规Python代码中拦截该异常。

这个模块不能很好地使用线程(但是，谁能呢?)

注意，由于我们在超时发生时引发异常，它可能最终在函数内部被捕获并忽略，例如这样一个函数:

def loop_forever():
    while 1:
        print('sec')
        try:
            time.sleep(10)
        except:
            continue

以防对任何人都有帮助，在@piro的回答的基础上，我做了一个函数装饰器:

import time
import signal
from functools import wraps


def timeout(timeout_secs: int):
    def wrapper(func):
        @wraps(func)
        def time_limited(*args, **kwargs):
            # Register an handler for the timeout
            def handler(signum, frame):
                raise Exception(f"Timeout for function '{func.__name__}'")

            # Register the signal function handler
            signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, handler)

            # Define a timeout for your function
            signal.alarm(timeout_secs)

            result = None
            try:
                result = func(*args, **kwargs)
            except Exception as exc:
                raise exc
            finally:
                # disable the signal alarm
                signal.alarm(0)

            return result

        return time_limited

    return wrapper

在一个有20秒超时的函数上使用包装器看起来像这样:

    @timeout(20)
    def my_slow_or_never_ending_function(name):
        while True:
            time.sleep(1)
            print(f"Yet another second passed {name}...")

    try:
        results = my_slow_or_never_ending_function("Yooo!")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"ERROR: {e}")

下面是对给定的基于线程的解决方案的轻微改进。

下面的代码支持异常:

def runFunctionCatchExceptions(func, *args, **kwargs):
    try:
        result = func(*args, **kwargs)
    except Exception, message:
        return ["exception", message]

    return ["RESULT", result]


def runFunctionWithTimeout(func, args=(), kwargs={}, timeout_duration=10, default=None):
    import threading
    class InterruptableThread(threading.Thread):
        def __init__(self):
            threading.Thread.__init__(self)
            self.result = default
        def run(self):
            self.result = runFunctionCatchExceptions(func, *args, **kwargs)
    it = InterruptableThread()
    it.start()
    it.join(timeout_duration)
    if it.isAlive():
        return default

    if it.result[0] == "exception":
        raise it.result[1]

    return it.result[1]

用5秒超时调用它:

result = timeout(remote_calculate, (myarg,), timeout_duration=5)

我也遇到过同样的问题，但我的情况是需要在子线程上工作，信号不适合我，所以我写了一个python包:timeout-timer来解决这个问题，支持用作上下文或装饰器，使用信号或子线程模块来触发超时中断:

from timeout_timer import timeout, TimeoutInterrupt

class TimeoutInterruptNested(TimeoutInterrupt):
    pass

def test_timeout_nested_loop_both_timeout(timer="thread"):
    cnt = 0
    try:
        with timeout(5, timer=timer):
            try:
                with timeout(2, timer=timer, exception=TimeoutInterruptNested):
                    sleep(2)
            except TimeoutInterruptNested:
                cnt += 1
            time.sleep(10)
    except TimeoutInterrupt:
        cnt += 1
    assert cnt == 2

查看更多信息:https://github.com/dozysun/timeout-timer

下面是一个POSIX版本，它结合了前面的许多答案来提供以下特性:

子进程阻塞执行。 timeout函数在类成员函数上的使用。 严格要求终止时间。

下面是代码和一些测试用例:

import threading
import signal
import os
import time

class TerminateExecution(Exception):
    """
    Exception to indicate that execution has exceeded the preset running time.
    """


def quit_function(pid):
    # Killing all subprocesses
    os.setpgrp()
    os.killpg(0, signal.SIGTERM)

    # Killing the main thread
    os.kill(pid, signal.SIGTERM)


def handle_term(signum, frame):
    raise TerminateExecution()


def invoke_with_timeout(timeout, fn, *args, **kwargs):
    # Setting a sigterm handler and initiating a timer
    old_handler = signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, handle_term)
    timer = threading.Timer(timeout, quit_function, args=[os.getpid()])
    terminate = False

    # Executing the function
    timer.start()
    try:
        result = fn(*args, **kwargs)
    except TerminateExecution:
        terminate = True
    finally:
        # Restoring original handler and cancel timer
        signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, old_handler)
        timer.cancel()

    if terminate:
        raise BaseException("xxx")

    return result

### Test cases
def countdown(n):
    print('countdown started', flush=True)
    for i in range(n, -1, -1):
        print(i, end=', ', flush=True)
        time.sleep(1)
    print('countdown finished')
    return 1337


def really_long_function():
    time.sleep(10)


def really_long_function2():
    os.system("sleep 787")


# Checking that we can run a function as expected.
assert invoke_with_timeout(3, countdown, 1) == 1337

# Testing various scenarios
t1 = time.time()
try:
    print(invoke_with_timeout(1, countdown, 3))
    assert(False)
except BaseException:
    assert(time.time() - t1 < 1.1)
    print("All good", time.time() - t1)

t1 = time.time()
try:
    print(invoke_with_timeout(1, really_long_function2))
    assert(False)
except BaseException:
    assert(time.time() - t1 < 1.1)
    print("All good", time.time() - t1)


t1 = time.time()
try:
    print(invoke_with_timeout(1, really_long_function))
    assert(False)
except BaseException:
    assert(time.time() - t1 < 1.1)
    print("All good", time.time() - t1)

# Checking that classes are referenced and not
# copied (as would be the case with multiprocessing)


class X:
    def __init__(self):
        self.value = 0

    def set(self, v):
        self.value = v


x = X()
invoke_with_timeout(2, x.set, 9)
assert x.value == 9