python has memory leak?

[yzghan at gmail.com]

Thanks to Christian and Jean-Paul for your reply. I moved away from
the stackless version (which I don't understand what uniqueness it
comes with) and downloaded a fresh copy of Python 2.5.2 (r252:60911,
Feb 21 2008, 13:11:45) [MSC v.1310 32 bit (Intel)] on win32. Following
J-P's suggestion, I included the block to be tested in a loop:

        i=20
        while i>0:
            i=i-1
            test(log)
            log.flush()

And logged the memory usage in bytes instead of MB. The result as
included below shows the peak memory usage keeps going up in the first
7 iterations. Can someone point to some docs or books about how python
manages memory or share some experience?

Thanks,

-GH


[10:27:54] test() starting ... memory usage: 4599808L 4599808L
[10:27:56] test() ... memory usage: 107499520L 107499520L
[10:27:56] test() done. memory usage: 41754624L 107503616L
[10:27:56] test() starting ... memory usage: 41754624L 107503616L
[10:27:59] test() ... memory usage: 108216320L 108400640L
[10:27:59] test() done. memory usage: 58884096L 108400640L
[10:27:59] test() starting ... memory usage: 58884096L 108400640L
[10:28:02] test() ... memory usage: 108220416L 108433408L
[10:28:02] test() done. memory usage: 42233856L 108433408L
[10:28:02] test() starting ... memory usage: 42233856L 108433408L
[10:28:04] test() ... memory usage: 108228608L 108441600L
[10:28:05] test() done. memory usage: 75149312L 108441600L
[10:28:05] test() starting ... memory usage: 75149312L 108441600L
[10:28:07] test() ... memory usage: 108498944L 108707840L
[10:28:07] test() done. memory usage: 41992192L 108707840L
[10:28:07] test() starting ... memory usage: 41992192L 108707840L
[10:28:10] test() ... memory usage: 108122112L 108707840L
[10:28:10] test() done. memory usage: 58523648L 108707840L
[10:28:10] test() starting ... memory usage: 58523648L 108707840L
[10:28:13] test() ... memory usage: 108642304L 108855296L
[10:28:13] test() done. memory usage: 41873408L 108855296L
[10:28:13] test() starting ... memory usage: 41873408L 108855296L
[10:28:16] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:16] test() done. memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:16] test() starting ... memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:18] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:19] test() done. memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:19] test() starting ... memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:21] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:22] test() done. memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:22] test() starting ... memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:24] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:24] test() done. memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:24] test() starting ... memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:27] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:27] test() done. memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:27] test() starting ... memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:30] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:30] test() done. memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:30] test() starting ... memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:32] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:33] test() done. memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:33] test() starting ... memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:35] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:36] test() done. memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:36] test() starting ... memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:38] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:38] test() done. memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:38] test() starting ... memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:41] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:41] test() done. memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:41] test() starting ... memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:44] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:44] test() done. memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:44] test() starting ... memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L
[10:28:46] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:47] test() done. memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:47] test() starting ... memory usage: 41975808L 108855296L
[10:28:49] test() ... memory usage: 108224512L 108855296L
[10:28:50] test() done. memory usage: 58626048L 108855296L