Overview
Proper memory disposal is crucial for application stability and preventing resource exhaustion. Insufficient deallocation can lead to memory leaks and ultimately application crashes. This page details the processes involved in gracefully releasing memory.
Key Concepts
- Garbage Collection (GC): Automatic memory management performed by the runtime.
- Explicit Deallocation: Manually releasing memory with functions like `free()` in C/C++ or `delete` in C++.
- Linker Cache: Stores addresses of dynamically linked objects, reducing the need to resolve each address every time.
- Resource Leaks: Occur when memory is allocated but not freed, causing the application to consume more resources.
The Disposal Process
The disposal process typically involves these steps:
- Garbage Collection:** The GC runs periodically, identifying and reclaiming memory occupied by objects that are no longer in use.
- Explicit Deallocation:** Programmers must explicitly release memory when necessary.
- Linker Cache Updates:** The linker caches the addresses of the objects, preventing the need to re-resolve them during runtime.
- Resource Management:** Managing data structures (e.g., linked lists, queues) correctly to avoid memory fragmentation.
Example Code (C++)
#include
#include // For malloc, free, new, delete
int main() {
int* ptr = new int;
*ptr = 10;
std::cout << "Value: " << *ptr << std::endl;
delete ptr;
return 0;
}