ALLOCA
Section: Linux Programmer's Manual (3)
Updated: 29 November 1993
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. If the
allocation failed, a
NULL
pointer is returned.
CONFORMING TO
There is evidence that the
alloca
function appeared in 32v, pwb, pwb.2, 3bsd, and 4bsd. There is a man page
for it in BSD 4.3. Linux uses the GNU version.
BUGS
The
alloca
function is machine dependent.
SEE ALSO
brk(2), pagesize(2), calloc(3), malloc(3), realloc(3)