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 succeeds 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(P)