memory management


memory management

[′mem·rē ‚man·ij·mənt] (computer science) The allocation of computer storage in a multiprogramming system so as to maximize processing efficiency. The collection of routines for placing, fetching, and removing pages or segments into or out of the main memory of a computer system.

memory management

(memory management, storage)A collection of techniques forproviding sufficient memory to one or more processes in acomputer system, especially when the system does not haveenough memory to satisfy all processes' requirementssimultaneously. Techniques include swapping, paging andvirtual memory. Memory management is usually performedmostly by a hardware memory management unit.

memory management

A variety of methods used to store and keep track of data and programs in memory (RAM) and reclaim the space when no longer needed. Virtual memory is the most common memory management function in every computer (see virtual memory). See memory allocation and PC memory management.