[Python-Dev] Optimization targets - refcount
Jewett, Jim J
jim.jewett at eds.com
Thu Apr 15 14:08:34 EDT 2004
Mike Pall:
> About GC: yes, refcounting is the silent killer.
>... Py_DECREF is awful ... > 3500 locations
Is it always needed?
What if a few common (constant, singleton) objects
(such as None, -1, 0, 1) were declared immortal at
compile-time? They would be created at initial
load in a special untracked pool, and their
tp_dealloc would do nothing.
The slot for tracking references would still be
there, but could be ignored -- even if it went
negative.
Since the reference count no longer has to be
correct (for these objects), the reference
counting macros could optimize to nothing when
they know at compile time that they'll have one
of these constant objects.
-jJ
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