Reference-Counting

Why Python Garbage Collection Looks Like It Is Not RunningMany Python developers assume that a garbage collector is constantly scanning memory and reclaiming unused objects. When memory usage stays flat or keeps growing, it feels like the collector is stalled or broken.This impression becomes stronger when manual calls to the garbage collector appear to do nothing. Objects remain alive. Memory d..

When Reference Count Changes Break Intuition in PythonReference counting is often described as simple. A reference is created, the count goes up. A reference disappears, the count goes down. When the count reaches zero, the object is freed.In practice, Python’s reference count does not change where most developers expect it to. Counts increase during expression evaluation, temporary binding, arg..