Allocator

Noun · Development

Definitions

  1. A component or algorithm responsible for managing dynamic memory allocation and deallocation — deciding where in the heap to place new objects and how to reclaim freed space efficiently.

    In plain English: The part of a program (or language runtime) that hands out chunks of memory when you need them and takes them back when you are done.

    Example: "We swapped glibc malloc for jemalloc and cut our p99 latency by 30% just from reduced heap fragmentation."

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