What causes memory leaks in applications?

Memory leaks in applications occur when memory allocated for objects is not released after they are no longer needed. Main causes:

• Cyclic references: objects refer to each other, and the garbage collector cannot delete them.
• Global or static references: objects remain in memory due to references in global variables or caches.
• Incorrect resource management: for example, open files, database connections that are not closed.
• Large data structures that constantly grow: for example, lists or dictionaries that continuously add elements without clearing.
• Code errors related to event handling or callbacks, where objects remain in memory due to subscriptions.

To prevent leaks, it is important to use memory profiling, properly manage the lifecycle of objects, and release resources.