When and How to Use Explicit Memory Management in Python?

Explicit Memory Management in Python

Python implements automatic garbage collection, which frees objects that are no longer referenced by any variable. However, in certain scenarios, such as when dealing with large data structures that may hold on to references unnecessarily, explicit memory management can be beneficial.

To explicitly free memory in Python, you can utilize the gc module's gc.collect() method. This method triggers the garbage collector to release unreferenced memory. It's important to note that gc.collect() does not guarantee immediate memory release and may only occur later during the execution.

For example, if you have a list of triangles represented by their vertices, and you need to free the memory occupied by the list after outputting the vertices in the OFF format, you can explicitly release the memory using the following steps:

1. Remove the references to the triangles list: del triangles
2. Invoke the garbage collector: gc.collect()

By marking the triangles list for deletion and explicitly triggering the garbage collection, you ensure the memory occupied by the list is released and can be reused.

Here's an example:

# Create a list of triangles
triangles = [..., ..., ...]

# Output vertices in OFF format
with open('output.off', 'w') as output:
    for vertex in vertices:
        output.write(str(vertex))

    for triangle in triangles:
        output.write(str(triangle))

# Explicitly free memory
del triangles
gc.collect()

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