How do I increase the heap size for Netbeans and any app run via Netbeans?

I'm trying to run a well-coded algorithm that tries to solve an NP-Hard problem via NetBeans but I'm running out of heap space.

Is the heap space I'm running out of specific to Netbeans? If so: how do I increase the heap space available to Netbeans?

Or is it specific to the app, as launched from Netbeans? If so: how do I tell Netbeans to launch it with more heap space?

As Ian C. says, the heap size is Application specific, therefore, here's how you increase it for Netbeans:

1. Right click on the NetBeans.app and select Show content of package.
2. Inside the package go to /Contents/Resources/NetBeans/etc/ and open the netbeans.conf file.
3. In the netbeans_default_options setting, change or add the following options: -J-Xmx... (e.g. -J-Xmx1600M) or -J-XX:MaxPermSize=... (e.g. -J-XX:MaxPermSize=500M).
4. Save the file and restart the IDE.

If you want to increase the Project's heap size you must go to your project's Properties / Run / VM Options, and in the text box add the arguments.