mirror of
https://github.com/micropython/micropython.git
synced 2026-04-26 10:50:23 +02:00
74e945752b
This adds support for the standard `weakref` module, to make weak references to Python objects and have callbacks for when an object is reclaimed by the GC. This feature was requested by PyScript, to allow control over the lifetime of external proxy objects (distinct from JS<->Python proxies). Addresses issue #646 (that's nearly a 12 year old issue!). Functionality added here: - `weakref.ref(object [, callback])` create a simple weak reference with optional callback to be called when the object is reclaimed by the GC - `weakref.finalize(object, callback, /, *args, **kwargs)` create a finalize object that holds a weak reference to an object and allows more convenient callback usage and state change The new module is enabled at the "everything" level. The implementation aims to be as efficient as possible, by adding another bit-per-block to the garbage collector, the WTB (weak table). Similar to the finalizer bit (FTB), if a GC block has its corresponding WTB bit set then a weak reference to that block is held. The details of that weak reference are stored in a global map, `mp_weakref_map`, which maps weak reference to ref/finalize objects, allowing the callbacks to be efficiently found when the object is reclaimed. With this feature enabled the overhead is: - 1/128th of the available memory is used for the new WTB table (eg a 128k heap now needs an extra 1k for the WTB). - Code size is increased. - At garbage collection time, there is a small overhead to check if the collected objects had weak references. This check is the same as the existing FTB finaliser scan, so shouldn't add much overhead. If there are weak reference objects alive (ref/finalize objects) then additional time is taken to call the callbacks and do some accounting to clean up the used weak reference. Signed-off-by: Damien George <damien@micropython.org>