embedding Python: how to avoid memory leaks?

[Andrew Trevorrow]

No response to my last message, so I'll try a different tack...

Does anyone know of, or even better, has anyone here written a
C++ application for Mac/Windows that allows users to run Python
scripts from within the app?  Not just once, but many times in
a single session, and without leaking memory.  Preferably an
open source app so I can see how it's done.

Our app (http://golly.sourceforge.net/) currently uses calls
like these every time a user decides to run a script:

   Py_Initialize();
   PyRun_SimpleString("execfile('foo.py')");
   Py_Finalize();

But even if foo.py is *empty* the above calls result in a memory
leak of about 12K on Mac OS 10.3.9 (using Python 2.3) and about
11K on Windows 2000 (using Python 2.4.2).  I wouldn't mind if
there was a one-off cost due to calling Py_Initialize the very
first time, but we see leaks every time a script is executed.

I've tried calling Py_Initialize just once (at app startup)
and Py_Finalize once on exit, but that doesn't really solve
anything.  It avoids leaks when using trivial scripts (like
an empty .py file!) but we want to run some rather complicated
scripts that consume lots of memory, so we need a reliable way
to release that memory.  I was surprised to discover that
Py_Finalize doesn't always do that.

Is there some magic Python code that can restore memory usage
to what it was before each execfile call?  Something like
PostScript's save and restore.

I've been struggling with this problem for about a week now.
Having been seduced by Python's power and beauty I'd hate to
have to abandon it and switch to Perl or some other crappy
scripting language!  Please help...

Andrew