what are they?
what are they?
Unnessecary variable that keep taking more and more memory.
[/not really proffesional mode]
It's usually when you allocate heap memory (say with malloc, new or a system call) and then either neglect to free it, or lose the option to free it ....ie
int* lpint = new int;//allocate an int on the heap
*lpint = 5;//assign value
lpint = new int;//now allocate another int
*lpint = 10;//assign value
delete lpint;
This frees the memory with the value 10 in it...the one with 5 in it is leaked and cannot be freed..also allocating memory in a function and returning before freeing - assuming the pointer is not accessible from another part of the code.........other more complex situations like throwing an exception in C++ before allowing resources to be freed........etc...etc