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C (programming language): Difference between revisions
→Memory Allocation
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==Usage== | ==Usage== | ||
==Memory Allocation== | ===Memory Allocation=== | ||
<code>#include <stdlib.h></code><br> | |||
There are 3 ways to allocate memory in C | There are 3 ways to allocate memory in C | ||
* <code>malloc(bytes)</code> Allocated memory is uninitialized. | * <code>malloc(bytes)</code> Allocated memory is uninitialized. | ||
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Memory allocated by <code>malloc</code> and <code>calloc</code> are on the heap and should be deallocated by <code>free</code> when no longer used to avoid memory leaks.<br> | Memory allocated by <code>malloc</code> and <code>calloc</code> are on the heap and should be deallocated by <code>free</code> when no longer used to avoid memory leaks.<br> | ||
Memory allocated by <code>alloca</code> is allocated on the stack and will automatically be freed. Do not call <code>free</code> on this memory. Do not allocate more than a few bytes using <code>alloca</code> or you will risk a stack overflow leading to undefined behavior.<br> | Memory allocated by <code>alloca</code> is allocated on the stack and will automatically be freed. Do not call <code>free</code> on this memory. Do not allocate more than a few bytes using <code>alloca</code> or you will risk a stack overflow leading to undefined behavior.<br> | ||
For | For automatic garbage collection, use [[C++]] which has smart pointers. | ||