Memory Leak

A memory leak is the allocation of memory, without its deallocation when that memory is not needed anymore.

As PHP manage the memory itself, memory leaks happen in different situations:

• Accumulation of data, without release. For example, an array that collect new data and never removes them.

• Circular reference: objects or variables keep a link one onto each other, and the PHP garbage collector see them in use.

• Disabled garbage collector: the garbage collector was disabled, and does not perform

• Bugs: sometimes, the memory usage is not voluntary.

See also Preventing Memory Leaks in PHP: Best Practices for Efficient Memory Management.

Related : Circular Reference, Garbage Collection, Leak, Resource Leak