ALLOCA(3) AerieBSD 1.0 Refernce Manual ALLOCA(3)

NAME

alloca — memory allocator

SYNOPSIS

#include <stdlib.h>

void* alloca(size_t size);

DESCRIPTION

The alloca(); function allocates size bytes of space in the stack frame of the caller. This temporary space is automatically freed on return.

RETURN VALUES

The alloca(); function returns a pointer to the beginning of the allocated space.

SEE ALSO

pagesize(1), calloc(3), malloc(3), realloc(3)

BUGS

The alloca(); function is machine 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.

AerieBSD 1.0 Reference Manual February 10 2010 ALLOCA(3)