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by marcusarmstrong 3059 days ago
This is just “using lots of memory”, not a “leak”.
2 comments

If you careful read the code ``` function sayHi() { var allNames = []; return name => { allNames.push(name); return ' ' + name; } } ``` It leaks memory on every invocation of the returned function
In the context of a language with a working garbage collector, doesn't "memory leak" just mean "accidentally using lots of memory"?
With cyclical references add "freed sometime between now and eternity".

If this is not a definition of a memory leak I don't know what is.

Well no, cyclical references only stop the object from being deleted if it's still accessible. That's what the 'mark' part of 'mark and sweep' does - it marks all objects still accessible somehow from inside the program. Then the 'sweep' bit runs through all allocated blocks and frees the unmarked ones.

Now, if you're merely approximating garbage collection with reference counting then sure, you have a problem.