How is variable storage in memory implemented in Python?

In Python, variables are references to objects in memory, not the actual values themselves. When a variable is created, it points to an object stored in the heap. Objects have a unique identifier (memory address), type, and value.

The Python interpreter uses a reference counting mechanism to manage the lifetime of objects: when there are no more references to an object, its memory is freed. Additionally, there is a garbage collector to detect cyclic references.

For example:

a = [1, 2, 3]
b = a  # b references the same object as a

Here, a and b are two variables pointing to the same list in memory.