code: def detect_number_of_cores():
      
      # Linux, Unix and MacOS:
      if hasattr(os, "sysconf"):
          if "SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN" in os.sysconf_names:
              # Linux & Unix:
              ncpus = os.sysconf("SC_NPROCESSORS_ONLN")
              if isinstance(ncpus, int) and ncpus > 0:
                  return ncpus
          else:  # OSX:
              return int(subprocess.check_output(["sysctl", "-n", "hw.ncpu"]))
      # Windows:
      try:
          ncpus = int(os.environ.get("NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS", ""))
          if ncpus > 0:
              return ncpus
      except ValueError:
          pass
      return 1
docs: Detects the number of cores on a system. Cribbed from pp.