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MALLOC(3P)                 POSIX Programmer's Manual                MALLOC(3P)

PROLOG
       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the  corresponding
       Linux  manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
       not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
       malloc - a memory allocator
SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdlib.h>
       void *malloc(size_t size);

DESCRIPTION
       The malloc() function shall allocate unused space for an  object  whose
       size in bytes is specified by size and whose value is unspecified.
       The  order  and  contiguity of storage allocated by successive calls to
       malloc() is unspecified. The pointer returned if  the  allocation  suc-
       ceeds shall be suitably aligned so that it may be assigned to a pointer
       to any type of object and then used to access such  an  object  in  the
       space  allocated  (until the space is explicitly freed or reallocated).
       Each such allocation shall yield a pointer to an object  disjoint  from
       any other object. The pointer returned points to the start (lowest byte
       address) of the allocated space. If the space cannot  be  allocated,  a
       null  pointer  shall be returned. If the size of the space requested is
       0, the behavior is implementation-defined: the value returned shall  be
       either a null pointer or a unique pointer.
RETURN VALUE
       Upon  successful  completion  with  size not equal to 0, malloc() shall
       return a pointer to the allocated space. If size is 0,  either  a  null
       pointer  or  a unique pointer that can be successfully passed to free()
       shall be returned. Otherwise, it shall return a null pointer   and  set
       errno to indicate the error.
ERRORS
       The malloc() function shall fail if:
       ENOMEM Insufficient storage space is available.

       The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
       None.
APPLICATION USAGE
       None.
RATIONALE
       None.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.
SEE ALSO
       calloc(),   free(),   realloc(),   the   Base   Definitions  volume  of
       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <stdlib.h>
COPYRIGHT
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in  electronic  form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX),  The  Open  Group  Base
       Specifications  Issue  6,  Copyright  (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
       Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open  Group.  In  the
       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
       The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard
       is  the  referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                           MALLOC(3P)