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Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/glossary.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/glossary.rst | 15 |
1 files changed, 10 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/glossary.rst b/Doc/glossary.rst index a4650a6..a4cd05b 100644 --- a/Doc/glossary.rst +++ b/Doc/glossary.rst @@ -159,8 +159,9 @@ Glossary :class:`str` objects. borrowed reference - In Python's C API, a borrowed reference is a reference to an object. - It does not modify the object reference count. It becomes a dangling + In Python's C API, a borrowed reference is a reference to an object, + where the code using the object does not own the reference. + It becomes a dangling pointer if the object is destroyed. For example, a garbage collection can remove the last :term:`strong reference` to the object and so destroy it. @@ -1054,7 +1055,9 @@ Glossary reference count The number of references to an object. When the reference count of an - object drops to zero, it is deallocated. Reference counting is + object drops to zero, it is deallocated. Some objects are + "immortal" and have reference counts that are never modified, and + therefore the objects are never deallocated. Reference counting is generally not visible to Python code, but it is a key element of the :term:`CPython` implementation. Programmers can call the :func:`sys.getrefcount` function to return the @@ -1137,8 +1140,10 @@ Glossary strong reference In Python's C API, a strong reference is a reference to an object - which increments the object's reference count when it is created and - decrements the object's reference count when it is deleted. + which is owned by the code holding the reference. The strong + reference is taken by calling :c:func:`Py_INCREF` when the + reference is created and released with :c:func:`Py_DECREF` + when the reference is deleted. The :c:func:`Py_NewRef` function can be used to create a strong reference to an object. Usually, the :c:func:`Py_DECREF` function must be called on |