Simple Python CLI Spinner

spinner.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

import itertools
import sys
import time
import threading


class Spinner(object):
    spinner_cycle = itertools.cycle(['-', '/', '|', '\\'])

    def __init__(self):
        self.stop_running = threading.Event()
        self.spin_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.init_spin)

    def start(self):
        self.spin_thread.start()

    def stop(self):
        self.stop_running.set()
        self.spin_thread.join()

    def init_spin(self):
        while not self.stop_running.is_set():
            sys.stdout.write(self.spinner_cycle.next())
            sys.stdout.flush()
            time.sleep(0.25)
            sys.stdout.write('\b')

spinner_usage.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

def do_work():
    time.sleep(3)

print 'starting work'    

spinner = Spinner()
spinner.start()

do_work()

spinner.stop()
print 'all done!'

Nowadays, there is no .next() method on an itertools.cycle.

Replacing line #25 with this will make this gist work again (in Python 2.7.x and Python 3)

sys.stdout.write(next(self.spinner_cycle))

See also: this SO thread.