Memory optimization in C# automation tests: practical advice

Viktor Losev, a test automation engineer and Selenium Camp speaker, looks at when C# automation tests genuinely need to save memory and how to do it. The topic matters for tests of desktop and 3D applications, heavy web UIs and CI runners that cannot be given more resources. The author explains how the .NET garbage collector works and when it makes sense to trigger it by hand, which everyday constructs quietly bloat the heap, how to release browser drivers and HTTP clients properly, and why it is sometimes worth giving up parallel test execution. A separate section covers Span and stack memory, ending with an example that parses a CSV line with no allocations at all.