What is meaning of small footprint in terms of programming?

Question

I heard many libraries such as JXTA and PjSIP have smaller footprints. Is this pointing to small resource consumption or something else?

Answer 1

Generally it's the amount of memory it takes up - the 'footprint' it leaves in memory when running. However it can also refer to how much space it takes up on your harddrive - although these days that's less of an issue.

If you're writing an app and have memory limitations, consider running a profiler to keep track of how much your program is using.