note BrowserUk <blockquote><i>Perl doesn't have "garbage collection" in the sense that it never gives memory back to the OS.</i></blockquote> <p>That's demonstrably not exactly true:<code> C:\test>perl -E"say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`; $x=chr(0); $x x= 2e6; say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`; undef $x; say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`" perl.exe 139252 Console 1 4,660 K perl.exe 139252 Console 1 6,680 K perl.exe 139252 Console 1 4,724 K </code> <p>That shows that perl allocating a 2MB scalar and then returning that 2MB back to the OS. <p>On my Perl/system, the break point for the size of allocations that are released back to the system is 1040351 bytes. anything more and it is; less and it is not:<code> C:\test>perl -E"say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`; $x=chr(0); $x x= 1040352; say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`; undef $x; say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`" perl.exe 129340 Console 1 4,688 K perl.exe 129340 Console 1 5,788 K perl.exe 129340 Console 1 4,780 K C:\test>perl -E"say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`; $x=chr(0); $x x= 1040351; say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`; undef $x; say `tasklist|find \"$$\"`" perl.exe 241476 Console 1 4,704 K perl.exe 241476 Console 1 5,788 K perl.exe 241476 Console 1 5,792 K </code> <P>That number is a around 8k less than 1MB, so presumably it is 1MB internally but then some is used for internal management. <div class="pmsig"><div class="pmsig-171588"> <hr /> <font size=1 > <div>With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'</div> <div>Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.</div> <div>"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". </div> <div>In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. </div> </font> </div></div> 1014100 1014155