Python Language Tutorial => Garbage Collector for Reference Cycles

Example

The only time the garbage collector is needed is if you have a reference cycle. The simples example of a reference cycle is one in which A refers to B and B refers to A, while nothing else refers to either A or B. Neither A or B are accessible from anywhere in the program, so they can safely be destructed, yet their reference counts are 1 and so they cannot be freed by the reference counting algorithm alone.

>>> import gc; gc.disable()  # disable garbage collector
>>> class Track:
        def __init__(self):
            print("Initialized")
        def __del__(self):
            print("Destructed")
>>> A = Track()
Initialized
>>> B = Track()
Initialized
>>> A.other = B
>>> B.other = A
>>> del A; del B  # objects are not destructed due to reference cycle
>>> gc.collect()  # trigger collection
Destructed
Destructed
4

A reference cycle can be arbitrary long. If A points to B points to C points to ... points to Z which points to A, then neither A through Z will be collected, until the garbage collection phase:

>>> objs = [Track() for _ in range(10)]
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
Initialized
>>> for i in range(len(objs)-1):
...     objs[i].other = objs[i + 1]
...
>>> objs[-1].other = objs[0]  # complete the cycle
>>> del objs                  # no one can refer to objs now - still not destructed
>>> gc.collect()
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
Destructed
20

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Python Language Garbage Collection Garbage Collector for Reference Cycles

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