How a Single Memory Leak Crashed a Trading Platform
from The Software Engineering Podcast with Fexingo: Code, Architecture, and Engineering Best Practices Hosted by Fexingo
In this episode of The Software Engineering Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the anatomy of a memory leak that took down a major trading platform for 45 minutes during peak market hours. They break down how a missing free() call in a C++ order-book module caused heap exhaustion, why the leak evaded detection for months, and the engineering fix—arena allocation with bounded lifetimes—that eliminated the entire class of bug. Along the way they discuss the tension between performance optimization and memory safety, why valgrind and AddressSanitizer weren't enough, and how a simple code review checklist caught the pattern. Practical lessons for anyone working in latency-sensitive systems. #MemoryLeak #CPlusPlus #TradingPlatform #OrderBook #ArenaAllocation #PerformanceOptimization #MemorySafety #HeapExhaustion #Valgrind #AddressSanitizer #CodeReview #LatencySensitive #EngineeringCulture #SoftwareEngineering #Technology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #TechPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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