[Python-Dev] C API for gc.enable() and gc.disable()

["Martin v. Löwis"]

> I took the statement, "Current GC only takes into account container
> objects, which, most significantly, ignores string objects (of which
> most applications create plenty)" to mean that strings were ignored for
> deciding when to do garbage collection. I mistakenly thought that was
> because they were assumed to be small. It sounds like they're ignored
> because they're automatically collected and so they SHOULD be ignored
> for object garbage collection. 

More precisely, a string object can never participate in a cycle (it
can be referenced from a cycle, but not be *in* the cycle, as it
has no references to other objects). GC in Python is only about
container objects (which potentially can be cyclic); non-container
objects are released when the refcount says they are no longer
referenced.

Whether or not allocation of definitely-non-cyclic objects should
still trigger cyclic GC (in the hope that some objects hang on a
garbage cycle) is a question that is open to debate; I'd prefer an
analysis of existing applications before making decisions.

Regards,
Martin