Memory management is the process of controlling and coordinating computer memory, ensuring that different programs and system processes run efficiently without interfering with each other. It involves allocating and deallocating memory resources as needed, and managing how and when memory is used by different parts of the system.
There are several different ways that memory management can be implemented, including:
Manual memory management: In this approach, the programmer is responsible for allocating and deallocating memory manually, using commands such as malloc() and free() in C.
Automatic memory management: In this approach, the system automatically manages memory resources, using techniques such as reference counting and garbage collection to keep track of memory usage and free up memory when it is no longer needed.
Memory allocation: Memory allocation is the process of setting aside a portion of memory for a specific use, such as storing data for a program or system process.
Memory deallocation: Memory deallocation is the process of releasing memory that is no longer needed, so that it can be used by other parts of the system.
In general, the goal of memory management is to ensure that the system has enough memory available to run all necessary programs and processes, while also avoiding memory leaks, fragmentation and other issues that can impact system performance.