Object pooling is a design pattern used in programming to manage the reuse of objects, reducing the overhead of creating and destroying them frequently. Instead of creating a new object each time one is needed, a pool of pre-initialized objects is maintained. When an object is required, it is taken from the pool, and when it is no longer needed, it is returned to the pool for future use. This technique is particularly useful in scenarios where object creation is costly, such as in video games or applications that require frequent resource allocation. By reusing objects, developers can improve performance and reduce memory fragmentation, leading to more efficient resource management in systems like Unity or Java.