python temporary class instances, should I copy them when inserting to an array?

[Red Squirrel]

Say I have code like this:

	almentries = [];

	files = os.listdir(path)

	for f in files:
		tmpentry = AlmEntry(f);
		
		if tmpentry.Load() :
			print("valid load");
			almentries.append(tmpentry);
		else:
			print("invalid load");

I am declaring a new AlmEntry class instance and assigning it to tmpentry in the loop. I do some validation on it and then I insert it into an array.

Is this valid, or should I actually be using a copy or deepcopy? The code works as I intend the way it is now, but I am just wondering if I might see problems doing it this way or if this is right.

 

[Cogman]

This is fine. No need to copy

Every time the loop repeats, tmpentry is getting a new reference assigned to it. That does not changes the values previously stored in the loop.

Because Python is also garbage collected, there's no issue with memory allocation or anything else around tmpentry. This might be a problem in manually managed languages (like C/C++). It's not here.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ok that's good to know, it's kind of what I was suspecting too.