What is a Memory Heap?

Solution 1:

Presumably you mean heap from a memory allocation point of view, not from a data structure point of view (the term has multiple meanings).

A very simple explanation is that the heap is the portion of memory where dynamically allocated memory resides (i.e. memory allocated via malloc). Memory allocated from the heap will remain allocated until one of the following occurs:

1. The memory is free'd
2. The program terminates

If all references to allocated memory are lost (e.g. you don't store a pointer to it anymore), you have what is called a memory leak. This is where the memory has still been allocated, but you have no easy way of accessing it anymore. Leaked memory cannot be reclaimed for future memory allocations, but when the program ends the memory will be free'd up by the operating system.

Contrast this with stack memory which is where local variables (those defined within a method) live. Memory allocated on the stack generally only lives until the function returns (there are some exceptions to this, e.g. static local variables).

You can find more information about the heap in this article.

Solution 2:

A memory heap is a location in memory where memory may be allocated at random access.
Unlike the stack where memory is allocated and released in a very defined order, individual data elements allocated on the heap are typically released in ways which is asynchronous from one another. Any such data element is freed when the program explicitly releases the corresponding pointer, and this may result in a fragmented heap. In opposition only data at the top (or the bottom, depending on the way the stack works) may be released, resulting in data element being freed in the reverse order they were allocated.

Solution 3:

Heap is just an area where memory is allocated or deallocated without any order. This happens when one creates an object using the new operator or something similar. This is opposed to stack where memory is deallocated on the first in last out basis.

Solution 4:

You probably mean heap memory, not memory heap.

Heap memory is essentially a large pool of memory (typically per process) from which the running program can request chunks. This is typically called dynamic allocation.

It is different from the Stack, where "automatic variables" are allocated. So, for example, when you define in a C function a pointer variable, enough space to hold a memory address is allocated on the stack. However, you will often need to dynamically allocate space (With malloc) on the heap and then provide the address where this memory chunk starts to the pointer.