bionic (3) free.3posix.gz

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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
       free — free allocated memory


SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdlib.h>

       void free(void *ptr);


DESCRIPTION
       The  functionality  described  on  this  reference  page is aligned with the ISO C standard. Any conflict
       between the requirements described  here  and  the  ISO C  standard  is  unintentional.  This  volume  of
       POSIX.1‐2008 defers to the ISO C standard.

       The  free()  function  shall cause the space pointed to by ptr to be deallocated; that is, made available
       for further allocation. If ptr is a null pointer, no action shall occur. Otherwise, if the argument  does
       not  match  a  pointer  earlier  returned  by  a  function in POSIX.1‐2008 that allocates memory as if by
       malloc(), or if the space has been deallocated by  a  call  to  free()  or  realloc(),  the  behavior  is
       undefined.

       Any use of a pointer that refers to freed space results in undefined behavior.


RETURN VALUE
       The free() function shall not return a value.


ERRORS
       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.


EXAMPLES
       None.


APPLICATION USAGE
       There is now no requirement for the implementation to support the inclusion of <malloc.h>.


RATIONALE
       None.


FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.


SEE ALSO
       calloc(), malloc(), posix_memalign(), realloc()

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <stdlib.h>


       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition,
       Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open  Group  Base
       Specifications  Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
       and The Open Group.  (This is POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) 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.unix.org/online.html .

       Any  typographical  or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced
       during  the  conversion  of  the  source  files  to  man  page  format.  To  report  such   errors,   see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .