The term ____ describes the condition that occurs when dynamically allocated memory isn t returned explicitly by using the delete operator and the operating system doesn t reclaim allocated memory.
A) stack leak
B) heap leak
C) garbage collection
D) memory leak

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A memory leak occurs when memory is allocated dynamically but not released, leading to wasted memory and potential performance problems. Heap leak would also be a possible answer, but memory leak is a more commonly used term. Garbage collection involves automatic memory management, which is not the case here, and stack leak would refer to a different kind of issue involving the stack memory region. A memory leak occurs when memory that was allocated dynamically is not properly released, causing the program to continue reserving memory even when it's no longer needed. This can lead to the eventual depletion of available memory, causing the program or operating system to crash. Stack leak is a different type of problem related to memory allocation, where memory allocated to the stack is not deallocated properly, leading to buffer overflows and crashes. Heap leak is another term for memory leak, specifically referring to memory allocated on the heap. Garbage collection is a technique used in some programming languages to automatically free memory that is no longer needed, avoiding memory leaks. However, it is not relevant to the scenario described in the question.

The Term ____ Describes the Condition That Occurs When Dynamically