malloc is a function of the standard c library (stdlib) and it is abbreviation for memory allocate. What this function does is allocates memory in the RAM of computer to store variable data in it. You will use it whenever you need a place to store you temporary data such as an array or structure. To use malloc all you have to do is call malloc and tell it the size of the memory you want. It will then return a pointer to that memory. persumabely if it fails it returns NULL.
You use a 2-D array with malloc the same way you use any other structure or scalar with malloc. The malloc library call takes a single argument of type size_t (in bytes) and returns a void* pointer to a region of memory that is suitably aligned for any supported data type. An example using the 2-D array... int *myArray[10][20]; myArray = malloc (sizeof (myArray)); if (myArray == NULL) {...exception processing...}; Note that a 2-D array is really the same as a 1-D array - its a linear region of memory - its just that the compiler does address arithmetic for you.
The malloc() function is part of a class of functions that deal with the allocation of memory on the heap. int *a = malloc (sizeof (int) * 100); /* allocate 100 int's */ if (a == NULL) {...} /* deal with possible malloc failure */ /* use a, either as pointer or as array of 100 ints */ free (a); /* release memory back to the library */
void* malloc (size_t bytes); This means that malloc takes an argument which is the size of memory to allocate and returns a pointer to that memory which has been allocated. If the return value is NULL, then the request could not be satisfied. Each call to malloc must be balanced with a corresponding call to free, to release the memory. int pa = NULL; pa = (int*) malloc (sizeof(int) * 1000); /* allocate 1000 ints */ if (pa == NULL) throw exception... ... use pa free (pa); pa = NULL;
malloc reserves memory for your use, free removes the reservation done by malloc and makes the memory available for other applications.Note: both of them is a special case of realloc:malloc (n) = realloc (NULL, n)free (p) = realloc (p, 0)
the current disappears!!:))
#include <stdlib.h> int **array1 = malloc(nrows * sizeof(int *)); for(i = 0; i < nrows; i++) array1[i] = malloc(ncolumns * sizeof(int));
Nothing, malloc does allocate memory from the heap.
Use a pointer... int a*; a = malloc(sizeof(int)*100); //allocate space for 100 elements free(a); a = malloc(sizeof(int)*1000); // allocate space for 1000 elements free(a);
Not meant to use it on mane and tail but I do and i have HOYS ponies so not really any where you can't
malloc/calloc/realloc will return NULL
malloc()
The malloc function is one of a group of memory allocation functions; malloc, calloc, realloc, and free. Specifically malloc (size) returns a pointer to a new memory block of at least size bytes, suitably aligned for optimum access for any basic type, or it returns a NULL if the request cannot be satisfied.