magic memory leak, Python or Windows problem?

["Martin v. Löwis"]

Marcus Stojek wrote:

> Can anybody explain this? Is this a problem of Pyhon or of what the
> Task Manager shows (or maybe of my brain)?

Most likely, this is a problem of your brain. If a Python object is 
released, the memory may or may not be given back to the C library - in 
some cases, Python caches the deleted objects, in order to reallocate 
them more quickly the next time.

When Python returns memory back to the C library, it may or may not be 
returned to the system. In most cases, the C library keeps blocks of 
memory, in order to reallocate them more quickly on the next memory 
request. The C library usually can return memory to the system only if 
that is at the end of the address space - free memory in the middle of 
the address space cannot be returned to the system, because the system
does not support that operation.

In general, you can assume a memory leak only if the memory is growing 
unboundedly. If it grows to an upper bound and stays there, you usually 
don't have a leak.

Regards,
Martin