multithreading - Python threads garbage collection -

is running thread eligable garbage collection if thread object reasigned? example:

class a(threading.thread)     def run():         while true:             #do stuff   = a() a.start() time.sleep(60) = a() 

at point, though thread still doing stuff, can interpreter destroy original a() thread? if does, there way prevent happening?

my guess no. there's still reference thread in whatever structure python uses keep track of things. i'll test out, i'd astonished if didn't work.

edit check out:

#!/usr/bin/env python import threading, time  class a(threading.thread):     def __init__(self, name):             threading.thread.__init__(self)             self.name=name             self.count=0     def run(self):             while self.count<10:                     print self.name, "running!"                     time.sleep(1)                     self.count+=1  a=a("first") a.start() time.sleep(5) a=a("second") a.start() 

first running! first running! first running! first running! first running! second running! first running! second running! first running! first running! second running! first running! second running! first running! second running! second running! second running! second running! second running! second running!