Show how much you sistem can allocate memory

max_memory_test.py

import os
import psutil
import sys

"""
+---------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------+
| Name	        |  Number of Bytes	      |   Amount of Text            | 
| Kilobyte (KB)	|  2**10 or 1,024	      |   1/2 page                  |
| Megabyte (MB)	|  2**20 or 1,048,576	  |   500 pages or 1 thick book |
+---------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------+
font: http://www.wisegeek.org/how-much-text-is-in-a-kilobyte-or-megabyte.htm
"""


PROCESS = psutil.Process(os.getpid())
MEGA = 2 ** 20
MEGA_STR = ' ' * MEGA

def pmem():
    virtual_memory = psutil.virtual_memory()
    tot = virtual_memory.total
    avail = virtual_memory.available
    percent = virtual_memory.percent 
    used = virtual_memory.used 
    free = virtual_memory.free 
    tot, avail, used, free = tot / MEGA, avail / MEGA, used / MEGA, free / MEGA
    proc = PROCESS.get_memory_info()[1] / MEGA
    print('process = %s total = %s avail = %s used = %s free = %s percent = %s'
          % (proc, tot, avail, used, free, percent))

def alloc_max_array():
    i = 0
    ar = []
    while True:
        try:
            ar.append(MEGA_STR)
        except MemoryError:
            break
        i += 1
    max_i = i - 1
    print 'maximum array index: %s | maximum memory: %sMG' % (max_i, (sys.getsizeof(ar)/MEGA))
    pmem()

def alloc_max_str():
    i = 0
    while True:
        try:
            a = ' ' * (i * MEGA)
            del a
        except MemoryError:
            break
        i += 1
    max_i = i - 1
    _ = ' ' * (max_i * MEGA)
    print 'maximum string size: %s | maximum memory: %sMG' % (max_i, (sys.getsizeof(_)/MEGA))
    pmem()

pmem()
alloc_max_str()
alloc_max_array()