locals() is presented to the user as a dictionary, but is that the way cpython actually works with it internally? I've run into weird GC issues that imply it's not a normal dictionary and it's just presented to the user as one for programattic access.
No, that's not how it works internally. The Python compiler resolves all local variables at compile-time. You can see this for yourself by defining a simple function f, import dis, and calling dis.dis(f).
Global variables use a dictionary, however. The disassembly actually looks similar for both.
That's a good question, I'm pretty sure it's not a normal dictionary. However, I'd have to go through the CPython source to confirm. Maybe someone who's more familiar with CPython's implementation will chime in.
