RAM Regions

RAM (random access memory) has regions that hold different data types during program execution.

Code (text) Segment

Program's executable code (instructions)

• holds compiled binary instructions

Data segment

Initialized data segment

• global and static variables initialized with a value before execution starts

Uninitialized data segment (BSS)

• Global and static variables that are declared but not initialized

Stack segment

Local variables, function call data (return address, function arguments), and control flow information

• Manages function call execution and keeps track of program flow.

Follows LIFO

Heap segment

Dynamically allocated memory

• Used for memory that needs to persist beyond the current function call or has a variable size

Closure for example, stores variables outside of the function context in heap.

• Heap is in RAM as a region for dynamically allocated memory.

Memory-mapped segment

• Data from files that are mapped directly into memory, shared libraries, or hardware-mapped memory.
• Primarily used for I/O operations and inter-process communication.