- Memory leaks in Asp.NetCore apps can silently degrade performance, increase server costs, and even cause OutOfMemoryException crashes.
- Even with Garbage Collection (GC), leaks happen when objects are unintentionally kept alive longer than needed.

 Common Causes

- Static references holding large objects
- Event handlers not unsubscribed
- Singleton services storing request-specific data
- Improper caching without eviction policies
- Unreleased unmanaged resources (e.g., file handles, DB connections)

 How to Detect

- dotnet-counters & dotnet-gcdump
- Visual Studio Diagnostic Tools
- PerfView or JetBrains dotMemory
- Application Insights memory metrics

Best Practices to Prevent Leaks

- Dispose resources with IDisposable or IAsyncDisposable
- Unsubscribe from events when no longer needed
- Avoid storing state in singletons unless truly global
- Use IMemoryCache with expiration & size limits
- Monitor memory usage in production with alerts

🚀 Pro Tip
Run load tests in staging with memory profiling enabled — leaks often appear only under sustained traffic.