mälulõiget

Mälulõige, often translated as memory fragmentation, refers to a condition where a computer's memory is broken into small, non-contiguous blocks. This occurs over time as programs are loaded and unloaded, or as data is written and deleted. When memory is fragmented, even if the total amount of free memory is sufficient to allocate a new block of data, the operating system might be unable to find a single contiguous block large enough. This can lead to performance degradation as the system expends more effort searching for and managing scattered memory segments.

The process of memory allocation and deallocation is the primary cause of fragmentation. When a program requires memory, it requests a block of a certain size. When the program finishes, it releases that memory back to the system. If programs of varying sizes are loaded and unloaded in an irregular order, the free memory becomes divided into many small pieces. This is analogous to having many small empty spaces in a bookshelf, but none large enough to hold a new, larger book, even if the total free space on the shelf is ample.

Strategies to mitigate memory fragmentation include memory defragmentation, which is a process of reorganizing memory to consolidate free blocks into larger contiguous chunks. Operating systems and some applications employ garbage collection algorithms that can help manage memory more efficiently and reduce fragmentation. In some programming environments, developers might use specific memory allocation techniques to minimize the occurrence of this issue. While modern operating systems have sophisticated memory management systems, severe fragmentation can still impact system responsiveness and stability.