Demystifying Python Memory Management & Choosing a Project Layout

How does Python manage memory behind the scenes? What are the common ways to lay out a Python project? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week with another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. Christopher shares an article titled “First Steps into Memory Management in Python.” With recent updates to the garbage collector and the ongoing work toward removing the Global Interpreter Lock (GIL), the article covers the fundamentals of how Python allocates, tracks, and frees memory. We also share other articles and projects from the Python community, including recent releases, why Parquet dominates modern data engineering, choosing the right Python project layout, developing the most cursed + operator in all of Python, finding which dependencies block a Django project upgrade, and a Django performance benchmark profiler. Spotlight: Codex for Python Developers: Hands-On Agentic Coding Course Most Python developers use AI as fancy autocomplete. This 2-day live course teaches you to build entire projects with Codex, an AI agent that works inside your codebase. Get Your Cheat Sheet: Click here to download the free cheat sheet for choosing your project layout and keep the flat vs. src/ decision and the entry-point wiring within reach on your next project. Topics: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:01:56 – Python 3.16.0 Alpha 1 Is Now Available 00:02:24 – Django Security Releases Issued: 6.1.2, 6.0.9, and 5.2.18 00:02:46 – Release of Polars 2.0 00:03:32 – PyPy v8.0.1 Release 00:03:54 – Checking Email Reputation, and Allowing Outlook Again 00:04:48 – PyScript is in maintenance mode 00:05:55 – Codex for Python Developers: Hands-On Agentic Coding Course 00:06:21 – MLOps North: November 5th & 6th 00:06:46 – Why Parquet Dominates Modern Data Engineering 00:16:04 – First Steps Into Memory Management in Python 00:23:21 – Spotlight: Codex for Python Developers 00:25:05 – Python Project Structure: How to Choose the Right Layout 00:35:17 – Pendulum and the Most Cursed + Operator in All of Python 00:38:50 – django-benchmark: Django Performance Benchmark Profiler 00:41:53 – django-upgrade-report: Which Dependencies Block an Upgrade to Your Django Project? 00:44:33 – Thanks and goodbye News: Python 3.16.0 Alpha 1 Is Now Available Django Security Releases Issued: 6.1.2, 6.0.9, and 5.2.18 Release of Polars 2.0 PyPy v8.0.1 Release Checking Email Reputation, and Allowing Outlook Again – Two years ago, PyPI prohibited Outlook email domains in the registration of new accounts due to a large malware campaign. With an update to how email reputation is calculated, addresses from outlook.com and hotmail.com can once more be used. PyScript is in maintenance mode. Here’s what’s left for Python in the browser - DEV Community Codex for Python Developers: Hands-On Agentic Coding Course – Real Python MLOps North: Building (with) Agents Tickets, Thursday, November 5-Friday, November 6 • 8:30 AM-3 PM | Eventbrite Show Links: Why Parquet Dominates Modern Data Engineering – How Parquet’s columnar layout, encodings, zstd compression, and row group statistics make it smaller and faster to read than CSV, measured on NYC taxi trips data with Polars, DuckDB, and PyArrow. First Steps Into Memory Management in Python – A quick introduction to how Python manages memory under the hood and how that might affect your code. Python Project Structure: How to Choose the Right Layout – Learn how to structure Python projects: pick between flat and src/ layouts, organize your code, and apply the patterns to CLI, web, and GUI apps. Pendulum and the Most Cursed + Operator in All of Python – Pendulum, a popular Python datetime library, has a + operator that inspects the call stack to decide which answer to give you. The post explains how it ended up there, and why the design behind it, a “drop-in” subclass of datetime, still matters for your code now that the hack itself has been patched. Projects: django-benchmark: Django Performance Benchmark Profiler django-upgrade-report: Which Dependencies Block an Upgrade to Your Django Project? Additional Links: PEP 848 – Generational Incremental Garbage Collection | peps.python.org Reverting the incremental GC in Python 3.14 and 3.15 - Core Development - Discussions on Python.org Garbage Collection: Python 3.15.2 documentation Memory Management in Python – Real Python Level up your Python skills with our expert-led courses: How Python Manages Memory How to Set Up a Django Project Using Astropy for Astronomy With Python Support the podcast & join our community of Pythonistas