Name
__del__
Synopsis
__del__(self)
Just before x disappears because of
garbage collection, Python calls
x
.__del__( ) to let
x finalize itself. If __del__ is absent, Python performs no special finalization upon
garbage-collecting x (this is the usual
case, as very few classes need to define __del__). Python ignores the return value of __del__. Python performs no implicit call to __del__ methods of class
C’s superclasses.
C
.__del__ must
explicitly perform any needed finalization.
For example, when class C has a base class
B to finalize, the code in
C
.__del__ must call
B
.__del__(self) (or
better, for new-style classes,
super(
C,
self).__del__( )). __del__
is generally not the best approach when you need timely and
guaranteed finalization. For such needs, use the
try/finally statement covered
in Chapter 6.
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