[Python] How does Python's garbage collector handle circular references in custom objects?

I'm working with complex data structures involving custom classes that reference each other.

I’m aware that Python uses reference counting, but also has a cyclic garbage collector for circular references.

My question is: How reliable is the garbage collector in cleaning up circular references in real-world applications with large object graphs?
Should I be manually breaking cycles in destructors or use weakref to avoid memory leaks?

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