Python3: Why is del called after reassignment of a new object variable?

Question

Suppose I have the following code in Python:

class Test:
    def __del__(self):
        print("del is called")


a = Test()
a = Test()

yields to the following output:

`del is called`

Why is that and what is the concept behind this?

Is "del" called after every reassignment?

Possible duplicate of [When is del useful in python?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6146963/when-is-del-useful-in-python) — Devesh Kumar Singh, Apr 26 '19 at 08:46
I would like to know, why "del" is implicitly called in this context — David, Apr 26 '19 at 08:55

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 26 '19 at 08:54

__del__ is called because there's no more references to the original a, causing it to be garbage-collected. See the Python docs for details.

You only get the output once, because

It is not guaranteed that __del__() methods are called for objects that still exist when the interpreter exits.

Python3: Why is __del__ called after reassignment of a new object variable?