The Two Alllocs in stdlib.h

malloc(size)

You have to calculate your own size, and the chunk of memory it gives you is uninitialized, may be faster than calloc() as it doesn’t initialize any of the values to anything. Doesn’t check if overflows.

calloc(n_elements, sizeof_element)

May be slower than malloc() as it needs to zero out sizeof_element * n_elements bytes. Needed when you need a spotless buffer. Some implementations check for overflow.

Reminders

  • Do remember to check for NULL when the pointer gets spits back out to you1
  • Do remember to free()
  • Don’t use after free

#C #C/features #memory

  1. And promptly free() the memory after use ↩