C malloc()

The malloc() function is used to allocate a block of memory in the heap. It allocates the user a specified number of bytes but does not initialize. Once allocated, the program accesses this block of memory via a pointer that malloc() returns.

Syntax

malloc(size);

The size parameter is of type size_t.

The default pointer returned by malloc() is of the type void but can be cast into a pointer of any data type. However, if the space is insufficient for the amount of memory requested by malloc(), then the allocation fails and a NULL pointer is returned.

Example

The following example showcases the malloc() function:

int *ptr;

// The pointer ptr holds the address of the first byte in the allocated memory
ptr = (int*) malloc(5 * sizeof(int));

Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard

Since the size of int is 4 bytes, the above statement will allocate 20 bytes (4 * 5) of memory.