__del__ — Easy Examples

Destructor; called when the object is about to be garbage collected

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Implementing __del__

Basic implementation of __del__ in a class.

python
class Example:
    def __del__(self):
        return "Example __del__"

obj = Example()
print(obj)

__del__ destructor; called when the object is about to be garbage collected. Implementing it lets you customize how Python interacts with your objects.

__del__ in action

Seeing __del__ called by Python's built-in operations.

python
# How Python calls __del__ automatically
class Demo:
    def __init__(self, value):
        self.value = value

    def __del__(self):
        print(f"__del__ was called!")
        return self

d = Demo(42)
# This triggers __del__:
print(d)

Python automatically calls __del__ when you use the corresponding operator or function on your object.

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