What are the differences between garbage collection and manual memory management?

What are the differences between garbage collection and manual memory management?

Garbage collection (GC) automatically reclaims memory, while manual memory management requires programmers to allocate and free memory explicitly.

What are the advantages of using garbage collection?

GC simplifies memory management, reduces memory leaks, and can improve developer productivity by handling memory automatically.

Are there any downsides to garbage collection?

Yes, GC can introduce overhead, lead to unpredictable pauses during execution, and may not be as efficient as manual management in some cases.

In what scenarios is manual memory management preferred?

Manual memory management is preferred in performance-critical applications, such as game development or systems programming, where control over memory is crucial.