DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

ANDHRA PRADESH
Name : Murali Krishna Chintala
Designation : Lecturer in CME
Branch : Computer Engineering
Institute : SUVR & SR GPW, Ethamukkala
Year/Semester : III Semester
Subject : UNIX & C
Subject Code : CM – 304
Topic : Basics of pointers
Duration : 50 Min
Sub Topic : Dynamic memory management functions
Teaching Aids : PPT, Animations

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 Objective

On completion of this period, you would be able to

Know …
Understand the following Dynamic memory
management functions with examples

 malloc()
 calloc()
 free()
 realloc()
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 Recap
In the previous class, we discussed about

 In dynamic allocation scheme storage is

allocated to a program and released back to
the computer while the program is
running,rather than fixed at compile time.

 Dynamic allocation scheme optimizes the

usage of storage space.

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 Dynamic Memory Allocation

Dynamic memory allocation can be done using

the following functions

 The malloc() function

 The calloc() function
 The free() function
 The realloc() function
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 Sizeof() Operator
Contd..
Before describing the above functions let us
first understand the sizeof operator.
 It is a unary operator that is used to obtain the
size of a data type or data object.
 It is not a library function but a keyword which
returns the size of the operand in bytes.
Example:
sizeof(char) is 1
sizeof(int) is 2
sizeof(float) is 4
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 malloc() function
 This is used to allocate a contiguous block of
memory in bytes and gives the starting
address to a pointer variable.
 Syntax:
ptr=(data-type *) malloc (size);
 where data-type says the type of pointer
returned by malloc() and size specifies the
required size of memory in bytes.

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 malloc() function

Example:
ptr=(int *) malloc(10);

On execution of this 10 bytes of memory space

is allocated and the starting address of the first
byte is assigned to the pointer ptr of type int.

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 malloc () function

Example:
ptr= (int *) malloc (10*size of(int));

 This allocates memory space 10 times the

size of an integer(i.e 10*2=20 bytes) and the
starting address of the first byte is assigned to
the pointer ptr of type integer.

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 malloc () function

 If sufficient memory is available, malloc()

allocates memory and returns the starting
address otherwise it returns null.

 Storage space allocated dynamically has no

name and therefore its contents can be
accessed only through a pointer.

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Example program using malloc() to enter 10
numbers and print them
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
int i,*ptr;
ptr=(int *)malloc(10*sizeof(int));
for(i=0;i<10;i++)
{
printf(“number %d”,i+1);
scanf(“%d”, (ptr+i);
}
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Example program using malloc() to enter 10
numbers and print them
Contd..

for(i=0;i<10;i++)

printf(“%d\n”, *(ptr+i);

} /* end of main */

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 calloc() function

 This function is used to allocate multiple blocks

of contiguous memory in bytes.

 All blocks are of same size.

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 calloc() function

Syntax:
ptr=(data-type *) calloc(n,size);

 where ptr is a pointer variable already defined.

 data-type is the type of the pointer returned by
calloc.
 ‘n’ is the number of memory blocks.
 ‘size’ is the required size of each block.

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 calloc() function
Example:
ptr=(int *) calloc(5,2);

 This allocates 5 memory blocks of size 2

bytes and returns the starting address of the
first byte to the pointer variable ptr.

 calloc() function is generally used for

allocating memory space for arrays and
structures.

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 free() function
 This is used to free (release or de allocate) the
block of unused or already used memory.

Syntax:
free(ptr);

 Where ptr is a pointer variable that contains

base address of the memory block,created by
malloc() or calloc().

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 free() function
Example:
ptr= (int *)malloc((10);
free(ptr);
 The first statement allocates memory space of
10 bytes and returns the starting address to
pointer variable ptr.

 The second statement frees the allocated

memory.

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 realloc() function

 This function is used to increase or decrease the

size of memory already allocated by using
malloc() or calloc() function.

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 realloc() function
Syntax:
new-ptr= realloc(old-ptr,new-size);

 where new-ptr is a pointer variable already

defined.
 old-ptr is the pointer variable used in malloc() or
calloc().
 new-size is the size of new memory needed.

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 realloc() function

Example:
y=(int *) malloc(10);
x=realloc(y,30);

 First statement allocates memory size of 10

bytes and returns the starting address of the
memory to pointer variable y.

 Second statement reallocates already allocated

space to 30 bytes.
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 Summary
In this class, we have learnt about…
 Dynamic memory allocation can be done with
the help of the following 4 library functions
 malloc()
 calloc()
 realloc()
 free()
 The prototypes of all the above functions are
included in the header file
<stdlib.h>and<alloc.h>
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 Quiz

1.malloc() function is used to

a) Allocate a contiguous block of memory.

b) Multiple blocks of memory.

c) Reallocate the memory blocks.

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 Quiz

1.malloc() function is used to

a) Allocate a contiguous block of memory.

b) Multiple blocks of memory.

c) Reallocate the memory blocks.

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 Quiz

2.In case of insufficient memory, malloc() returns

a) Pointer to the first byte

b) null

c) Pointer to the last byte

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 Quiz

2.In case of insufficient memory, malloc() returns

a) Pointer to the first byte

b) null

c) Pointer to the last byte

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 Assignment

 Explain Dynamic memory management

features of ‘C’ language.

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 Frequently Asked Questions

2) Explain the use of malloc(), calloc(), free()

functions in ‘C’ language?
(Apr ’03,Oct ’04)

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