Explain what is meant by the term 'heap' in the context of memory management in programming.

In programming, the term "heap" refers to a region of memory used for dynamic memory allocation during program execution. Unlike the stack, where memory is allocated and freed in a LIFO manner, the heap allows memory to be allocated and freed arbitrarily, enabling the creation of objects with indefinite lifetimes.

For example, in Go, when creating objects using the new operator or when using slices and maps, memory is allocated on the heap, and the garbage collector is responsible for freeing it when the objects are no longer in use.