What are weak references in Python and how do I use them?

What are weak references in Python and how do I use them?

Weak references allow you to reference an object without preventing it from being garbage collected. This is useful for caching.

Can you show me an example of how to create a weak reference?

Sure! You can use the weakref module. Here's a simple example:

import weakref

class MyClass:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

obj = MyClass('example')
weak_obj = weakref.ref(obj)

print(weak_obj())  # Outputs: <__main__.MyClass object at 0x...>

# Deleting the strong reference
 del obj

print(weak_obj())  # Outputs: None

What happens when the object is garbage collected?

When the object is garbage collected, the weak reference returns None instead of keeping a reference to the object.