Sign In Start Free Trial
Account

Add to playlist

Create a Playlist

Modal Close icon
You need to login to use this feature.
  • Mastering Object-oriented Python
  • Toc
  • feedback
Mastering Object-oriented Python

Mastering Object-oriented Python

By : Steven F. Lott
4.2 (13)
close
Mastering Object-oriented Python

Mastering Object-oriented Python

4.2 (13)
By: Steven F. Lott

Overview of this book

Table of Contents (26 chapters)
close
Mastering Object-oriented Python
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Some Preliminaries
Index

The __del__() method


The __del__() method has a rather obscure use case.

The intent is to give an object a chance to do any cleanup or finalization just before the object is removed from memory. This use case is handled much more cleanly by context manager objects and the with statement. This is the subject of Chapter 5, Using Callables and Contexts. Creating a context is much more predictable than dealing with __del__() and the Python garbage collection algorithm.

In the case where a Python object has a related OS resource, the __del__() method is a last chance to cleanly disentangle the resource from the Python application. As examples, a Python object that conceals an open file, a mounted device, or perhaps a child subprocess might all benefit from having the resource released as part of __del__() processing.

The __del__() method is not invoked at any easy-to-predict time. It's not always invoked when the object is deleted by a del statement, nor is it always invoked when an object is deleted...

Unlock full access

Continue reading for free

A Packt free trial gives you instant online access to our library of over 7000 practical eBooks and videos, constantly updated with the latest in tech
bookmark search playlist download font-size

Change the font size

margin-width

Change margin width

day-mode

Change background colour

Close icon Search
Country selected

Close icon Your notes and bookmarks

Delete Bookmark

Modal Close icon
Are you sure you want to delete it?
Cancel
Yes, Delete