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Summary: Memory Management Functions

void *malloc(size_t nbytes)
  • aim: allocate some memory for a data object
  • attempt to allocate a block of memory of size nbytes in the heap
  • if successful, returns a pointer to the start of the block
  • if insufficient space in heap, returns NULL
Things to note:
  • the initial contents of the memory block are random
  • returned address should be cast to appropriate pointer type