PCPP2 Advanced OOP And Performance Practice Question
You have a performance-critical application using heavy objects. You want to reduce memory footprint by preventing the creation of __dict__ for every instance. How should you proceed?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Define a __slots__ sequence attribute
Defining __slots__ in a class prevents the creation of __dict__ and __weakref__ for instances, significantly reducing memory usage.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a decorator to delete __dict__ after creation
Why it's wrong here
Deleting __dict__ will break attribute access for instances.
- ✗
Inherit from the object class exclusively
Why it's wrong here
Inheriting from object does not control memory allocation for instance attributes.
- ✓
Define a __slots__ sequence attribute
Why this is correct
__slots__ explicitly defines the allowed attributes, saving memory by removing the instance-specific dictionary.
- ✗
Set __dict__ = None in the class body
Why it's wrong here
This is not a valid way to optimize memory in Python.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Python Institute exam blueprint
This PCPP2 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Python Institute certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCPP2 exam.