memory leak
Forgotten heap growth
A memory leak is a programming bug where software fails to release memory it no longer needs, causing gradual accumulation until performance degrades or the system crashes.
The term evokes fluid slowly escaping from a container: The app had a memory leak that made my phone slower every day.
Fixing memory leaks is a routine but tedious part of software development.
- dangling pointerInvalid memory address holder
- buffer overflowExceeding allocated memory bounds
- stack overflowExceeded call depth
- runtime errorFault during program execution
- deadlockMutual blocking, no progress
debugging · crash · infinite loop · resource management · race condition · heap · programming · diagnostic tools · orphan · garbage · bloat · slow down · free · RAM · resource · buffer · reference · stack
- antipatternsspaghetti code, dead code, code smell, technical debt, cargo cult
- memory errorsmisattribution, confabulation, source confusion, paramnesia, suggestibility
- leaksseepage, drip, drips, trickle, ooze
- malfunctionsbroken, defective, glitch, faulty, error
- tech problemsbug, paper jam, low ink, dropped calls, bugs
- Computer Errorserror message, crash, warning, internal error, fatal error