High memory usage for dummies
- by zaf
I've just restarted my firefox web browser again because it started stuttering and slowing down. This happens every other day due to (my understanding) of excessive memory usage.
I've noticed it takes 40M when it starts and then, by the time I notice slow down, it goes to
1G and my machine has nothing more to offer unless I close other applications.
I'm trying to understand the technical reasons behind why its such a difficult problem to sol
ve.
Mozilla have a page about high memory usage:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/High+memory+usage
But I'm looking for a slightly more in depth and satisfying explanation. Not super technical but enough to give the issue more respect and please the crowd here.
Some questions I'm already pondering (they could be silly so take it easy):
When I close all tabs, why doesn't the memory usage go all the way down?
Why is there no limits on extensions/themes/plugins memory usage?
Why does the memory usage increase if it's left open for long periods of time?
Why are memory leaks so difficult to find and fix?
App and language agnostic answers also much appreciated.