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[Python-Dev] No longer enable Py_TRACE_REFS by default in debug build

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Fri Apr 12 10:40:13 EDT 2019 
On Fri, Apr 12, 2019 at 5:51 AM Stefan Behnel <stefan_ml at behnel.de> wrote:

> Serhiy Storchaka schrieb am 11.04.19 um 17:30:
> > If reducing the Python memory footprint is an argument for disabling
> > Py_TRACE_REFS, it is a weak argument because there is larger overhead in
> > the debug build.
>
> I think what Victor is argueing is rather that we have better ways to debug
> memory problems these days, so we might be able to get rid of a relict that
> no-one is using (or should be using) anymore and that has its drawbacks
> (such as a very different ABI and higher memory load).
>
> I don't really have an opinion here, but I can at least say that I never
> found a use case for Py_TRACE_REFS myself and therefore certainly wouldn't
> miss it.
>

I have a feeling that at some point someone might want to use this to debug
some leak (presumably caused by C code) beyond what gc.get_objects() can
report. But I agree that it isn't useful to the vast majority of users of a
regular debug build. So let's leave it off by default even in debug builds.
But let's not delete the macros.

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)
*Pronouns: he/him/his **(why is my pronoun here?)*
<http://feministing.com/2015/02/03/how-using-they-as-a-singular-pronoun-can-change-the-world/>
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