Perl module to test that freed memory objects were actually freed
A memory leak occurs when a Perl data structure is destroyed but some of the
contents of that structure are not freed. Leaked memory is a useless
overhead. Leaks can significantly impact system performance. They can also
cause an application to abend due to lack of memory. In Perl, circular
references are a common cause of memory leaks. Circular references are
allowed in Perl, but data structures containing circular references will leak
memory unless the programmer takes specific measures to prevent leaks.
Preventive measures include weakening the references and arranging to break
the reference cycle just before the structure is destroyed. When using
circular references, it is easy to misdesign or misimplement a scheme for
preventing memory leaks. Mistakes of this kind have been hard to detect in a
test suite. Test::Weaken allows easy detection of unfreed Perl data and
allows you to examine the unfreed data, even data that would usually have
been made inaccessible.
