Memory Leaks - Forgetting to free()
Understand memory leaks: allocated memory that is never freed.
Memory Leaks
A memory leak occurs when you allocate memory with malloc but never call free.
Impact
- Wasted memory; long-running programs can run out of memory
- Slower over time as the heap fragments
- In servers, leaks can cause outages
How to Avoid
- Every
mallocshould have a matchingfree - Use MemC to see which blocks remain allocated at program end