Heap Management
Heap management is a core concept in computer science and programming that involves the dynamic allocation and deallocation of memory during program execution. It refers to the techniques and algorithms used to manage a region of memory called the heap, where objects and data structures with variable lifetimes are stored. This includes operations like allocating memory blocks, freeing them when no longer needed, and handling fragmentation to optimize memory usage.
Developers should learn heap management to write efficient, memory-safe programs, especially in systems programming, game development, or resource-constrained environments. It is crucial for languages like C and C++ where manual memory management is required, helping prevent issues like memory leaks, dangling pointers, and fragmentation. Understanding heap management also aids in debugging performance bottlenecks and optimizing applications for scalability.