[ANNOUNCE] Garbage collection for Python

[Chuck Esterbrook]

Neil Schemenauer wrote:

> Garbage collection for Python:
>
>     http://www.enme.ucalgary.ca/~nascheme/python/gc.html
>
> I think I have all of the wrinkles ironed out of this patch.
> Reference cycles involving lists, tuples, instances, classes,
> dictionaries, and functions are found.  Instances with __del__
> methods are handled in a sane way.  It is easy to add GC support
> to new types.  GC enabled Python is binary compatible with
> regular Python.
>
> Generational collection works (currently three generations).  The
> overhead measured by pybench is less than 1 percent and is not
> measurable with pystone (on my machine).  Virually all extension
> modules should work unchanged (I had to modify new and cPickle in
> the standard distribution).  A new module called gc is available
> for tuning the collector and setting debugging options.
>
> The collector should be portable across all platforms but I have
> only tested on my Linux machine.  The patched version of Python
> passes all regression tests and runs Grail, Idle and Sketch
> without problems.
>
> The patch is against the current CVS version of Python.  If
> enough people ask for a patch against the stable version of
> Python I will make one.  Please send comments and bug reports.
>
>     Neil
>
> --
> "Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it." -- Alan Perlis

Looking at Python FAQ 6.14 on GC, I see another one as well:

http://starship.python.net/crew/gandalf/gc-ss.html


Can you compare/contrast the two?  Also, you might want to get yours mentioned in the FAQ.


-Chuck