Term · Embedded Software & Tools
Heap fragmentation
The gradual break-up of free heap memory into blocks too small to satisfy a request, even though the total free space is sufficient. In a long-running embedded system it eventually produces an allocation failure that no restart-free recovery can fix.
- Also known as
- External fragmentation
- Type
- Term
- Domain
- Embedded Software & Tools, Memory and execution
Notes
The reason safety-critical coding standards ban malloc after initialisation, or ban the heap entirely.
Related terms
Part of the Embedded Software & Tools glossary, with every term in the topic and the lifecycles, tools and standards that use them.
Where it appears on the Hub
No other page of the Hub uses this term yet.
Suggest an improvement
Suggest an improvement to this entry
A clearer definition, an example, a correction or a source an editor can check. Editors review every suggestion before the entry changes.
Last reviewed: not yet reviewed in depth. Entry last updated . The full glossary