How does the Python interpreter manage memory allocation and deallocation for variables during program execution?

The Python interpreter manages memory automatically using a memory management mechanism and a garbage collector.

When a variable is created, Python allocates memory for it on the heap. To track object usage, reference counting is used: each object keeps a count of references to it. When the reference count drops to zero (meaning the object is no longer used anywhere), the memory occupied by the object is freed.

However, reference counting does not handle cyclic references (when objects reference each other). To solve this problem, Python has a garbage collector that periodically searches for such cycles and frees the memory.

Thus, programmers usually do not need to manually manage memory — Python does it automatically, which simplifies development and reduces the likelihood of errors related to memory leaks.