Reference Counting

Reference counting is a memory management technique used in computing to keep track of how many references point to a particular piece of data or object. Each time a reference is created, a counter increases, and when a reference is removed, the counter decreases. When the counter reaches zero, meaning no references exist, the memory occupied by that data can be safely freed or reclaimed. This method helps prevent memory leaks, ensuring that resources are efficiently used while maintaining access to data as long as it is needed.