Merge branch 'heap_scheduler_stress_component' into integration

esphome/core/scheduler.cpp

@@ -398,7 +398,9 @@ void HOT Scheduler::cleanup_() {
   // Reading to_remove_ without lock is safe because:
   // 1. We only call this from the main thread during call()
   // 2. If it's 0, there's definitely nothing to cleanup
-  // 3. If it becomes non-zero after we check, cleanup will happen next time
+  // 3. If it becomes non-zero after we check, cleanup will happen on the next loop iteration
+  // 4. Not all platforms support atomics, so we accept this race in favor of performance
+  // 5. The worst case is a one-loop-iteration delay in cleanup, which is harmless
   if (this->to_remove_ == 0)
     return;
 

esphome/core/scheduler.h

@@ -163,7 +163,10 @@ class Scheduler {
     if (item_name == nullptr) {
       return false;
     }
-    // Fast path: if pointers are equal (common with string deduplication)
+    // Fast path: if pointers are equal
+    // This is effective because the core ESPHome codebase uses static strings (const char*)
+    // for component names. The std::string overloads exist only for compatibility with
+    // external components, but are rarely used in practice.
     if (item_name == name_cstr) {
       return true;
     }