free()
Deallocate a block of memory
Synopsis:
#include <stdlib.h> void free( void* ptr );
Since:
BlackBerry 10.0.0
Arguments:
- ptr
- A pointer to the block of memory that you want to free. It's safe to call free() with a NULL pointer.
Library:
libc
Use the -l c option to qcc to link against this library. This library is usually included automatically.
Description:
The free() function deallocates the memory block specified by ptr, which was previously returned by a call to calloc(), malloc() or realloc().
Examples:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <malloc.h>
int main( void )
{
char *buffer;
buffer = (char *)malloc( 80 );
if( buffer == NULL ) {
printf( "Unable to allocate memory\n" );
return EXIT_FAILURE;
} else {
/* rest of code goes here */
free( buffer ); /* deallocate buffer */
}
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
Classification:
| Safety: | |
|---|---|
| Cancellation point | No |
| Interrupt handler | No |
| Signal handler | No |
| Thread | Yes |
Caveats:
Calling free() on a pointer already deallocated by a call to free() or realloc() could corrupt the memory allocator's data structures.
Last modified: 2014-11-17