[Python-Dev] Re: atexit missing an unregister method

[Nick Jacobson]

<< This seems like a poor argument for unregistering exit handlers.  If 
you've
registered an exit handler, why then explicitly do what you've already asked
the system to do? >>

1. To free up memory for the rest of the program.
2. If the following block is in a loop, and you need to allocate & then 
deallocate resources multiple times.:

<< atexit.register(free_resource, x)
atexit.register(free_resource, y)
# do operations with x and y, potentially causing the program to exit
...
# if nothing caused the program to unexpectedly quit, close the resources
free_resource(x)
free_resource(y) >>


<<  Also, your proposed unregisterall() function would be
dangerous.  As an application writer you don't know what other parts of the
system (libraries you use, for example) might have registered exit
functions.

Skip >>

That's true...it would probably be better to expose the stack of registered 
functions.  That way you can manually unregister functions you've 
registered.

--Nick Jacobson

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