Garbage Collection for Python This patch adds garbage collection to Python 1.5.2c1. Reference counting is still used. The garbage collector only frees memory that the reference counting does not (ie. reference cycles). This seems to provide the best performance. http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~nascheme/python/gc.html Currently the patch is only tested on Linux. It will probably work on other Unix machines as well. On my Linux machine, the GC version of Python passes all regession tests. Sample usage: $ cd Python-1.5.2c1 $ patch -p1 < ../gc-python-1.diff $ ./configure --with-gc The patch assumes you have libgc.a installed somewhere so that linking with -lgc works (/usr/local/lib should be okay). If you don't have the library, download and install it before compiling. If you are trying to fix a memory leaking Python program, Tim Peter's Cyclops module may also be useful. It is available on the Python ftp site. Last updated Thu 23 Sep 1999 Neil Schemenauer <P><A HREF="http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~nascheme/python/gc.html">Garbage Collection Patch</A> - a patch to add garbage collection to Python; for Linux/UNIX. (23-Sep-99) -- ----------- comp.lang.python.announce (moderated) ---------- Article Submission Address: python-announce@python.org Python Language Home Page: http://www.python.org/ Python Quick Help Index: http://www.python.org/Help.html ------------------------------------------------------------