JavaScript garbage collection: Browser vs. server

Garbage collection (GC) is crucial in modern application development, particularly in JavaScript, where it automatically manages memory allocation and deallocation. JavaScript stores data in two main areas: the heap for dynamic memory allocation and the stack for primitive data and references. The process of GC in JavaScript employs different algorithms, including reference-counting and mark-and-sweep, to identify and free unused memory. Reference-counting identifies objects with zero references, but struggles with circular dependencies, while mark-and-sweep starts from a root object, marking reachable objects and sweeping the rest. JavaScript engines like V8, used by Node.js and Chrome, further optimize GC with strategies like the scavenger, which efficiently manages memory between the young and old generations of objects. Despite the complexity of these processes, developers cannot manually trigger GC, emphasizing the importance of understanding GC behavior and using tools like LogRocket to monitor and optimize application performance.