The Perl garbage collector uses simple reference counting during the
normal execution of a program. This means that cycles or unweakened
references in other parts of code can keep an object around for longer
than intended. To help avoid this problem, the reference count of a new
object from its class constructor ought to be 1. This way, the caller can
know the object will be properly DESTROYed when it drops all of its
references to it.
This module provides two test functions to help ensure this property holds
for an object class, so as to be polite to its callers.
If the assertion fails; that is, if the actual reference count is
different to what was expected, a trace of references to the object can be
printed, if Marc Lehmann's Devel::FindRef module is installed. This may
assist the developer in finding where the references are. See the examples
below for more information.