A region of memory used for dynamic memory allocation where variables are allocated and freed in any order during program execution. Unlike the stack, the heap allows for flexible memory allocation but requires manual management in some languages.
From Old English 'heap' meaning a pile or collection of things. In computing, it was adopted in the 1960s because memory in this region can be thought of as a 'pile' of available space that programs can draw from randomly.
The heap is like a giant toy box where you can throw things in and pull them out in any order, while the stack is like a neat pile of plates where you can only add or remove from the top. This flexibility makes the heap powerful but also more prone to becoming messy!
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