What are the different types of memory management in Python?

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Answer:

In Python, memory management is handled automatically by the Python interpreter, so you don't have to worry about explicitly allocating and freeing memory in your code. The Python memory manager keeps track of all the objects in your program, and automatically frees memory that is no longer being used by the program.

There are two main types of memory management in Python:

1. Reference counting: This is the simplest form of memory management in Python, and is the default mechanism used by the Python memory manager. Reference counting works by keeping track of the number of references to an object, and when the number of references reaches zero, the memory occupied by the object is automatically freed.

2. Garbage collection: This is an optional form of memory management in Python that is used to automatically reclaim memory that is no longer in use by the program. The Python garbage collector uses a sophisticated algorithm to determine which objects are no longer in use, and frees the memory occupied by those objects. The garbage collector runs periodically in the background, and you can control its behavior using the gc module.

In practice, most Python programs use a combination of both reference counting and garbage collection to manage memory effectively. The reference counting mechanism is fast and efficient, but has some limitations (such as the possibility of creating reference cycles that cannot be freed by reference counting alone). The garbage collector supplements reference counting by freeing memory occupied by objects that are no longer in use, even if they are still referenced.

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