Western Governors University (WGU) ITSW 2113 D278 Scripting and Programming Foundations Practice Exam

Garbage collection is a crucial technique used to manage resources in programming, particularly in environments that support automatic memory management, such as those using high-level languages like Java and Python. It refers to the process of automatically identifying and reclaiming memory occupied by objects that are no longer in use by the program, thus preventing memory leaks and optimizing resource allocation.

The garbage collector monitors the application's memory usage and determines when objects can no longer be accessed or referenced. Once determined, these objects are cleared from memory, which helps in maintaining an efficient and responsive application as it allows the system to free up resources that are no longer needed.

In contrast, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism are fundamental concepts of object-oriented programming that deal with how data and behaviors are structured and interact within a program but do not directly manage resources. Encapsulation focuses on restricting access to certain details of an object, promoting modular and maintainable code. Inheritance allows new classes to adopt properties and methods of existing classes, thereby promoting code reuse. Polymorphism enables objects to be treated as instances of their parent class, allowing for flexible and dynamic method invocation but does not play a role in resource management.