Comparative Analysis of C++ Memory Management Techniques Based on Existing Studies
Abstract
Memory management is a fundamental aspect of programming that directly influences application performance, reliability, and resource utilization. C++, as a systems programming language, provides both manual and automatic memory management techniques, enabling fine-grained control over allocation and deallocation. This paper presents a comparative review of C++ memory management mechanisms—such as stack allocation, heap allocation (new/delete), smart pointers (unique_ptr, shared_ptr, weak_ptr), and garbage-collection approaches used in conjunction with C++. By synthesizing findings from existing literature, this study evaluates these techniques based on safety, performance, ease of use, and applicability. The paper concludes that while manual memory management offers performance benefits, modern C++ constructs (especially smart pointers) provide safer and more maintainable approaches with minimal runtime overhead.
Citation
Shaji, C., & Betcy Thanga Shoba, V. (2026). Comparative Analysis of C++ Memory Management Techniques Based on Existing Studies. Mercovite, 1(1), 52–62.
License
© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Dr. BGR Publications .
The authors retain copyright of this article. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
References
- Stroustrup, B. (2013). The C++ Programming Language (4th ed.). Addison-Wesley.
- Meyers, S. (2014). Effective Modern C++: 42 Specific Ways to Improve Your Use of C++11 and C++14. O’Reilly Media.
- ISO/IEC. (2017). ISO/IEC 14882:2017 – Programming Languages — C++. International Organization for Standardization.
- Sutter, H., & Alexandrescu, A. (2004). C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices. Addison-Wesley.
- Josuttis, N. M. (2012). The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley.
- Boehm, H. J., & Weiser, M. (1988). Garbage collection in an uncooperative environment. Software—Practice & Experience, 18(9), 807–820.
- Bacon, D. F., Cheng, P., & Rajan, V. T. (2004). A real-time garbage collector with low overhead and consistent utilization. Proceedings of the ACM SIGPLAN Conference.
- McConnell, S. (2004). Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction (2nd ed.). Microsoft Press.
- Alexandrescu, A. (2001). Modern C++ Design: Generic Programming and Design Patterns Applied. Addison-Wesley.
- Herb, S. (2015). Prefer smart pointers to owning raw pointers. ISO C++ Committee Guidelines.
- Wilson, P. R., Johnstone, M. S., Neely, M., & Boles, D. (1995). Dynamic storage allocation: A survey and critical review. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Memory Management.
- Drepper, U. (2007). What Every Programmer Should Know About Memory. Red Hat, Inc.
- Lakos, J. (1996). Large-Scale C++ Software Design. Addison-Wesley.
- Abrahams, D., & Gurtovoy, A. (2004). C++ Template Metaprogramming: Concepts, Tools, and Techniques. Addison-Wesley.
