Why does refs increase 2 for every new object in Python?

Question

It is a little weird to me that the refs number in the interactive environment increases 2 after a new object is defined. I created only one object, isn't it?

>>> v
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'v' is not defined
[41830 refs]
>>> v = "v"
[41832 refs]

-1: At least until you explain why you think the reference number is increasing by 2! — Scott Griffiths
– Scott Griffiths, Commented Feb 14, 2011 at 12:35
@ScottGriffiths: That's a good question (and already asked by Tim), but a different question from the one in your last comment. — Fred Nurk
– Fred Nurk, Commented Feb 14, 2011 at 14:01
That's a debug build of Python. Call configure with the --with-pydebug option when building Python, or install the python-dbg package on Debian or Ubuntu. — Sven Marnach
– Sven Marnach, Commented Feb 14, 2011 at 14:52

Duncan · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-14 12:27:32Z

8

Your assignment worked by creating an entry in the globals() dictionary that has v as a key and "v" as a value. That's two references (one for the key and one for the value) although in this case they probably both refer to the same string "v".

edited Feb 14, 2011 at 12:27

answered Feb 14, 2011 at 12:20

Duncan

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