Python memory usage

[Klaas]

velotron wrote:
> On Nov 9, 8:38 pm, "Klaas" <mike.kl... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I was referring specifically to abominations like range(1000000)
>
> However, there are plenty of valid reasons to allocate huge lists of
> integers.
I'm sure there are some; I doubt there are plenty.  Care to name a few?

> This issue has been worked on:
> http://evanjones.ca/python-memory.html
> http://evanjones.ca/python-memory-part3.html
>
> My understanding is that the patch allows most objects to be released
> back to the OS, but can't help the problem for integers.  I could be

Integers use their own allocator and as such aren't affected by Evan's
patch.

> mistaken.  But on a clean Python 2.5:
>
> x=range(10000000)
> x=None
>
> The problem exists for floats too, so for a less contrived example:
>
> x=[random.weibullvariate(7.0,2.0) for i in xrange(10000000)]
> x=None
>
> Both leave the Python process bloated in my environment.   Is this
> problem a good candidate for the FAQ?

I think floats use obmalloc so I'm slightly surprised you don't see
differences.  I know that evan's patch imposes conditions on freeing
obmalloc arenas, so you could be seeing effects of that.

-Mike