Final garbage collection?

[Will Ware]

Jerome Quelin (jerome.quelin at insalien.org) wrote:
> Is
> it that Python does not have a _final_ garbage-collection that can
> handle cycles and break them?

That's correct. Garbage collection in Python is accomplished by
reference counting. When a gets a pointer to b, b's reference count
is incremented, and vice versa. If you read the Extending and
Embedding Tutorial you can find out more about this. It's a simple
system but it means that circular references like these do not get
collected. For the time being, it's good Python programming practice
to avoid circular references in your code.
-- 
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Resistance is futile. Capacitance is efficacious.
Will Ware	email:    wware @ world.std.com