What are the differences between mark-and-sweep and reference counting garbage collection?

What are the differences between mark-and-sweep and reference counting garbage collection?

Mark-and-sweep and reference counting are two garbage collection techniques. Mark-and-sweep identifies unreachable objects by marking them and then sweeping them away, while reference counting keeps track of the number of references to each object and deallocates it when the count reaches zero.

Which method is more efficient in terms of memory management?

It depends on the scenario. Mark-and-sweep can handle cyclic references better, while reference counting can be more efficient for short-lived objects due to its immediate deallocation.

Are there any downsides to using mark-and-sweep?

Yes, mark-and-sweep can introduce pauses during the marking phase, which may affect performance in real-time applications. Additionally, it may require more memory overhead.

What about the downsides of reference counting?

Reference counting can lead to memory leaks if there are circular references, as it won't deallocate those objects. It also incurs overhead for maintaining reference counts.