Memory Tool (Warning: May Cause Memory Madness!) 🤪
Welcome to the wildest memory adventure! Let's make your browser sweat! 💦
Creates arrays that are never cleaned up
Clears the leaked memory arrays
Adds huge strings to memory
Creates DOM elements not attached to document
Creates many duplicate string values
Creates many duplicate string values using String object
Creates objects to show shallow memory size
Creates nested objects to show retained memory
Creates a long chain of linked objects
Creates objects then deletes half
Understanding the Memory Tool
This tool helps you explore how JavaScript manages memory in your browser. It's designed to demonstrate various
memory concepts for learning purposes.
Key Memory Concepts:
Memory Leaks: When objects remain in memory even though they're no longer needed, causing
memory usage to grow over time.
Shallow Size: The memory consumed by the object itself, not including what it references.
Retained Size: The total memory that would be freed if the object was deleted (including
all objects it keeps alive).
Detached DOM: Elements created but not attached to the document tree, which can leak if
references are kept.
Retainers:
The "Retainers" tab in the Memory DevTools shows you which other objects in memory are holding references to
the currently selected object, preventing it from being garbage collected. Understanding retainer paths helps
you identify:
Reference Chains: How objects are connected to each other
GC Roots: The primary objects that keep others alive
Memory Leaks: Unexpected references that prevent cleanup
Object Lifetimes: Why certain objects persist longer than expected
How to Use the Memory Panel:
Take a snapshot before performing an action
Perform one of the memory actions using the buttons
Take another snapshot
Use "Comparison" view to see what changed between snapshots
Explore "Allocated objects" to see what was created
Memory Panel Views:
Containment (Heap Contents): This view shows how objects are referenced and retained in
memory, helping you understand object relationships and potential memory leaks.
Comparison: This view allows you to compare different heap snapshots to identify changes in
memory usage.
Statistics: This view provides a circular chart showing how much memory each object type
takes up.
📋 Step-by-Step Memory Investigation Guide
Open Chrome DevTools by pressing F12 or right-clicking and selecting "Inspect"
Navigate to the "Memory" tab in DevTools
Take an initial snapshot by clicking "Take heap snapshot"
Press one of the buttons above to perform a memory operation
Take another snapshot after the operation completes
Select "Comparison" view in the dropdown to see what changed
Look for new objects in the "# New" column
Explore object relationships by clicking on items
Use the search box to find specific objects
Check "Shallow size" and "Retained size" values to understand memory impact
Look for detached DOM nodes by searching for "Detached"
Use the "Clear Memory" button when finished with an experiment
Try different operations and observe their unique memory patterns
Compare multiple snapshots to track memory growth over time
Identify memory leaks by finding objects that persist unexpectedly
Tip: Pay attention to the relationship between objects by exploring the retainer chains.
Note: Take snapshots between each button press to clearly observe memory changes.