Alokacija

Alokacija is a term used in several Slavic languages, notably Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian, meaning the act or process of allocating resources. In general, it refers to the distribution or assignment of scarce resources, goods, or assets among competing uses or recipients. The concept is applied in diverse fields, from economics and public policy to information technology.

In economics and public administration, alokacija describes how limited resources such as capital, labor, land, and time are allocated among alternative uses. Allocation decisions aim to improve efficiency, equity, and overall welfare. Mechanisms include market-based price signals, central planning, rationing, auctions, and budgeting methods that prioritize projects.

In computer science, memory allocation denotes reserving space in a system's memory for data or program objects. It covers static allocation at compile time and dynamic allocation at run time, typically via mechanisms such as malloc and free or new and delete. Allocation strategies affect performance, fragmentation, and reliability, making deallocation and garbage collection important considerations.

Outside computing and economics, alokacija appears in logistics, operations research, urban planning, and resource management, where the goal is to assign inputs, tasks, or space to entities or time periods to meet objectives efficiently and fairly.