Circular reference
A circular reference is a cycle of direct or indirect references among objects, components, or resources, in which following the references eventually leads back to something already encountered.
Pro ASP.NET Core 7, Tenth Edition
A circular reference is a chain of object references in which an object is eventually referenced again, forming a cycle.
- How it is used
- Diagnoses JSON failures when ASP.NET Core web-service responses expose Entity Framework Core related data.
- How deep it goes
- Explains navigation-property tracking, demonstrates the failing request, and shows manually nulling back-references before serialization.
- Examples
- Uses Supplier and Product entities, an Include query, the /api/suppliers/1 endpoint, and a foreach back-reference removal.
- What you can do after
- Diagnose serialization failures and break response cycles by removing child-to-parent references before returning related data.
Read how Pro ASP.NET Core 7, Tenth Edition explains circular reference →
The Well-Grounded Python Developer: How the pros use Python and Flask
A circular reference problem is a dependency structure in which modules directly or indirectly require each other in a cycle that prevents valid importing or initialization.
- How it is used
- Prevents module-import cycles when Flask features need access to the central app instance.
- How deep it goes
- Explains the dependency structure and gives a package-and-factory remedy, without descending into Python import internals.
- Examples
- Uses a MyBlog app.py layout, a package directory tree, create_app(), and Flask command-line launch examples.
- What you can do after
- Diagnose/debug with it by recognizing import cycles and restructuring Flask code around a package and factory.
100 C++ Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
A circular reference is a cycle of object references in which objects eventually refer back to an earlier object in the cycle.
- How it is used
- Warns against using shared ownership in both directions when designing linked structures and managing dynamic resources.
- How deep it goes
- Explains reference-count failure and recommends weak pointers, stopping short of a complete corrected implementation.
- Examples
- Uses a deque whose nodes contain shared prev and next pointers as the concrete circular-reference example.
- What you can do after
- Diagnose ownership cycles and select unique or weak pointers to prevent shared resources from leaking.
Read how 100 C++ Mistakes and How to Avoid Them explains circular reference →
Related concepts
- weak referenceaddressed by · A weak reference is a non-owning reference that does not prevent its referent from being reclaimed when no strong references remain.
- Entity Framework Coreproduced by · Entity Framework Core is a cross-platform object-relational mapping framework for .NET that enables applications to query and persist data through .NET objects and APIs.
- missing valueaddressed by · A missing value is a marker or condition indicating that an expected data value or reference is absent, unavailable, unknown, or inapplicable.
- reference countingcontrasts with · Reference counting is a memory-management technique that tracks references to an object or value and can reclaim it when its reference count reaches zero.
- garbage collectionaddressed by · Garbage collection is an automated memory- or storage-management process that identifies objects or data no longer reachable or needed and reclaims or deletes them.
- exceptionproduces · An exception is a runtime signal or object representing an abnormal condition that interrupts ordinary program flow and may be handled or propagated.
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