CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonobject
user14440030
user14440030

Reputation:

Will memory always be reclaimed when using 'del'?

l = [1, 2, 3]
del l

From the python docs:

It is not guaranteed that __del__() methods are called for objects that still exist when the interpreter exits.

Does this mean that the list object, in this case l, will not be deleted even when the interpreter exits? I mean when the program exits, aren't all the objects reclaimed?

Upvotes: 4

Views: 97

Answers (1)

Christopher Peisert
Christopher Peisert

Reputation: 24134

It is not guaranteed that __del__() methods are called for objects that still exist when the interpreter exits.

This statement implies that you should not rely on a custom __del__() method being executed upon interpreter exit.

The statement does not imply that the interpreter will create a memory leak.

In all cases when Python exits, all memory will be released.

See also

Upvotes: 3

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