There's also `std.fmt.allocPrint()` which functions similarly to `format!()`. Although I'd argue its rather poorly named, like many of the functions in the stdlib...
For wanting to avoid fiddling with multiple repeated alloc/defer-free, it's often convenient to use the arena allocators that allow you to release everything with a single `defer arena.deinit()`
I would (coming from a C background) guess that `allocPrint()` owes its name from the C standard library function(s) `as(n)printf()`[1]. At least that would make sense, the naming is modernized by being made longer, to gain clarity.
For wanting to avoid fiddling with multiple repeated alloc/defer-free, it's often convenient to use the arena allocators that allow you to release everything with a single `defer arena.deinit()`