From: Brian Candler <b.candler@...>
Date: 2008-11-09T17:09:30+09:00
Subject: Re: Memory implications for persistent Proc objects

Farrel Lifson wrote:
> big_object = BigObjectNeedsLotsOfRAM.new
> my_proc = Proc.new { ... } # big_object not referenced in my_proc
> big_object = nil
> my_proc.call
> 
> Will the memory allocated to big_object remain in use because it was
> alive when my_proc was created despite it not being referenced or used
> in my_proc?

Clearly not, because big_object has been assigned to nil. That is: 
big_object may exist in the environment of my_proc, but it's the *same* 
big_object variable that you've assigned outside too.

Now, if you had not assigned to big_object, but just let it drop out of 
scope, then I wouldn't be so sure. However you said explicitly that 
you're only interested in what happens at the top level, and you can't 
make things drop out of scope at that level.
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