Quick Tip: Use `__slots__` to reduce Python class memory usage (2026)

Quick Tip: Use slots to reduce Python class memory usage

When creating classes in Python, you may not be aware that each instance has a built-in dictionary called __dict__ that stores its attributes. This can lead to increased memory usage, especially when dealing with a large number of instances.

In contrast, using __slots__ allows you to explicitly declare the attributes of a class, which prevents the creation of __dict__ and __weakref__ for each instance. This results in significant memory savings.

Here's a minimal example:

python
import sys

class RegularClass:
    def __init__(self, x, y):
        self.x = x
        self.y = y

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