What is a garbage collector?

Garbage collector is a component of the memory management system that automatically frees memory occupied by objects that are no longer used by the program.

Main principles:

• Tracking algorithms: The garbage collector determines which objects are accessible (reachable from root points, such as the stack or global variables) and which are not.
• Cleaning: Objects marked as inaccessible are removed, and the memory they occupy is returned to the free memory pool for further use.

Common algorithms:

• Mark and Sweep
• Copying
• Generational
• Reference Counting

Advantages:

• Reduces the likelihood of memory leaks.
• Simplifies memory management for developers.
• Increases application reliability.

Disadvantages:

• Can cause pauses (Stop-the-world events) during collection.
• Unpredictable execution time.
• May consume additional system resources.