>According to my 'Data & Telecommunications Dictionary c1999 CRC Press':
>
>"A memory leak is a characteristic of a software program in which 
>memory is not handled correctly by the application or the operating 
>system (or both), and begins to fill up the system. [...] If the 
>operating system does not clean up the leak on the behalf of the 
>application, it will probably be necessary to reboot the machine to 
>clear the problem."
>
>So in this instance, the term 'memory leak' could apply to source 
>code, Staz's runtime code, Andy's compiled code, or Apple's system 
>code.
>--
>Heather Donahue

Heather:

Well... according to my "Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms" 
c 1999 Barron's Business Guides:

"[Memory] Leak an error in a program that makes if fail to release 
memory or other system resources when it terminates. Thus, the 
available memory, disk space, or other resources are gradually eaten 
up until the computer is rebooted. Memory leaks are a common error in 
Windows programs."

Considering that this definition states the obvious about Windows, I 
must assume that the aforementioned portion of the definition is 
correct as well.

However, I don't think neither definitions stated herein properly 
address the condition of failing to completely release an allotted 
memory block as previously discussed.

Oh well... I'll leave that to the next author of the next more 
descriptive Dictionary.

tedd

-- 
http://sperling.com