malloc help
Author
[c code]
code 1
char *a;
a="ahsjsq";
code 2
char*a;
a=malloc(6*sizeof(char));
a="ahsjsq";
which is correct : code 1 or code 2
what is the difference between these two codes.
do we need to malloc everytime we have to store something in a string ?
Quote:Original post by y2jsavechar*a;a = malloc(6*sizeof(char));a = "ahsjsq";
This is wrong. When you assign a string literal to a char* pointer, the system stores that string for you somewhere in your code so that you don't have to allocate memory for it. If you do the code you have above, you set the pointer to the location the compiler came up with for you, and you lose the allocated memory (and therefore you leak that memory). So yeah, the first way is right.
Quote:Original post by MJP
This is wrong. When you assign a string literal to a char* pointer, the system stores that string for you somewhere in your code so that you don't have to allocate memory for it. If you do the code you have above, you set the pointer to the location the compiler came up with for you, and you lose the allocated memory (and therefore you leak that memory). So yeah, the first way is right.
-- unless you plan to modify your string, in which case you have to make a copy of your string first:
char *ptr = "do not modify"; ptr[0] = 'D'; // Run-time error!Instead:
#include <string.h> char *ptr = strdup( "do not modify" ); ptr[0] = 'D'; // Yay! free( ptr ); // Don't forget to clean up your new stringEDIT:
Un-C++'d it
[Edited by - _fastcall on July 25, 2008 11:11:49 PM]
That should be: "delete[] ptr;" not "delete ptr;".
There's also the builtin function strdup() in string.h, which does the same thing as your make_copy() function but with malloc()/free() instead of new/delete.
There's also the builtin function strdup() in string.h, which does the same thing as your make_copy() function but with malloc()/free() instead of new/delete.
String literals are stored somewhere in your executable. When your program is executed, it is loaded into memory first, so these literals already have a place in memory. Whenever you read text from a file or whenever you need to modify a string, then yes, you'll need to allocate sufficient memory for it (and deallocate it when you're done with it).
In C++, you should use std::string (#include <string>), as it takes care of such tedious tasks. In C, you'll have to make do with char pointers and the C string functions (#include "string.h").
In C++, you should use std::string (#include <string>), as it takes care of such tedious tasks. In C, you'll have to make do with char pointers and the C string functions (#include "string.h").
Quote:Original post by dwahler
That should be: "delete[] ptr;" not "delete ptr;".
There's also the builtin function strdup() in string.h, which does the same thing as your make_copy() function but with malloc()/free() instead of new/delete.
Correct; it should be delete[] in C++, but then again, there isn't a delete in C, I meant to use free ... (C++ habits [smile])
One thing you have to remember when dynamically allocating strings in C, add 1 more byte for the null terminator else you can get sometimes get pretty unpredictable results.
To store the string "hello", we need to allocate 6 bytes, the first 5 characters should be the letters that make up the word, and the last character should be '0' or '\0'. Pay very close attention to the C string functions such as strlen(), strcpy() and strncpy(). Unfortunately dealing with strings in C can be very tricky.
To store the string "hello", we need to allocate 6 bytes, the first 5 characters should be the letters that make up the word, and the last character should be '0' or '\0'. Pay very close attention to the C string functions such as strlen(), strcpy() and strncpy(). Unfortunately dealing with strings in C can be very tricky.
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