How is object lifetime management handled in Python and what stages does its lifecycle include?

In Python, object lifetime management is based on reference counting and a garbage collector for cyclic references.

The lifecycle of an object includes the following stages:

1. Creation — the object is created in memory, and space is allocated.
2. Usage — the object is accessible through references (variables).
3. Reference counting — when a reference is created or assigned, the counter increases; when a reference is deleted, it decreases.
4. Deletion — when the reference count of an object reaches zero, the memory is freed.
5. Garbage collection — for objects involved in cyclic references, a separate garbage collection mechanism periodically searches for and deletes such objects.

Example:

class MyClass:
    def __del__(self):
        print('Object deleted')

obj = MyClass()  # Creating an object
ref = obj       # Increasing reference count

del obj         # Decreasing reference count

del ref         # Reference count becomes 0, object is deleted

Thus, the lifetime of an object in Python is managed automatically, which simplifies memory management.