Package: libtest-weaken-perl (3.022000-1.1)

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.