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How I Solved Memory Leaks and Cut RAM Usage by 40% in Rust with Borrow Checker Mastery
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Memory management is one of the trickiest areas of programming, and when working in systems programming languages, it becomes even more critical. Unlike garbage-collected languages like Python or Java, where the memory is managed for you, languages like C and C++ leave the task squarely on your shoulders. Rust, however, takes a different approach. It offers the borrow checker, a powerful tool for memory safety without the overhead of garbage collection.
In this article, I’ll take you through how I solved memory leaks in my Rust application and cut RAM usage by 40% by truly mastering the borrow checker. It’s not just about avoiding the dreaded “use-after-free” errors, but also about optimising memory usage efficiently, something the borrow checker can help with if used correctly.
Memory Leaks in Low-Level Languages: A Recap
Memory leaks happen when a program allocates memory but never releases it, leading to gradual consumption of available memory and, eventually, crashes or significant slowdowns. In languages like C or C++, this is common because developers manage memory manually.
