AI engineering glossary · Computing foundations
What is reference counting?
Reference counting: A memory management scheme in which each object tracks how many references point to it, and is freed as soon as that count reaches zero. CPython uses it as its main mechanism, with a separate collector for cyclic references.
Reference counting: an example
In Python, sys.getrefcount(x) reports how many references currently point to object x.
Related terms
More Computing foundations terms
Where you learn it
Reference counting is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.