Heap Allocators

Key Question: How do core memory-allocation operations like malloc and free work?

A heap allocator manages a block of memory for the heap and completes requests to use or give up memory space. We can manage the data in a heap allocator using headers, pointers to free blocks, or other designs

Why does this matter? Designing a heap allocator requires making many design decisions to optimize it as much as possible. There is no perfect design! All languages have a “heap”, but manipulate it in different ways.