How does Python garbage collection work?

Can you explain how garbage collection works in Python?

Sure! Python uses a combination of reference counting and a cyclic garbage collector to manage memory.

What is reference counting?

Reference counting is a technique where each object keeps track of how many references point to it. When the count drops to zero, the object is deallocated.

What about cyclic references?

Cyclic references occur when two or more objects reference each other, preventing their reference counts from reaching zero. Python's garbage collector can detect and clean up these cycles.

How can I manually trigger garbage collection?

You can manually trigger garbage collection in Python using the gc module. Just call gc.collect() to run the collector.