Q about identifying a RAM-leaking program..

[Ovendoor]

I recently installed a load of new programs, and now I have a terrible RAM leak over the course of a day.

This is brought up 2 questions that I haven't seen answers for:

Is there an easy way to identify when/if a specific program is to blame for leaking RAM other than through the trial & error/installing & uninstalling process?

If a program has a leak, does it need to be ran to initiate the leak? Hypothetically, if I soft reset and I don't use any programs over the course of a day..I shouldn't see any type of leak, correct? Essentially, I have done this, and I still see accelerated RAM loss. Odd.