| alloca(3) | memory allocator |
| memory, malloc, alloca, calloc, free, mmap, realloc(3) | general memory allocation operations |
| ALLOCA(3) | MidnightBSD Library Functions Manual | ALLOCA(3) |
alloca — memory
allocator
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
#include
<stdlib.h>
void *
alloca(size_t
size);
The
alloca()
function allocates size bytes of space in the stack
frame of the caller. This temporary space is automatically freed on
return.
The alloca() function returns a pointer to
the beginning of the allocated space.
The alloca() function appeared in
Version 7 AT&T UNIX/32V.
The alloca() function is machine and
compiler dependent; its use is discouraged.
The alloca() function is slightly unsafe
because it cannot ensure that the pointer returned points to a valid and
usable block of memory. The allocation made may exceed the bounds of the
stack, or even go further into other objects in memory, and
alloca() cannot determine such an error. Avoid
alloca() with large unbounded allocations.
| September 5, 2006 | midnightbsd-3.1 |