A memory leak occurs when a program allocates memory but fails to release it, leading to a gradual depletion of available memory. This can lead to system slowdown and, in severe cases, crashes. Checking for memory leaks is crucial for maintaining the stability and performance of any software application.
There are various tools and techniques that can be employed to detect memory leaks. One common approach involves using a memory profiler, which monitors memory usage and identifies potential leaks by tracking memory allocations and deallocations. Additionally, using debugging tools such as gdb or lldb can help identify memory leaks by setting breakpoints and examining the call stack.