ALLOC(III) 3/1/74 ALLOC(III)





ALLOC(III)                   3/1/74                    ALLOC(III)







NAME

     alloc, free - core allocator



SYNOPSIS

     char *alloc(size)



     free(ptr)

     char *ptr;



DESCRIPTION

     Alloc  and  free  provide  a  simple  general-purpose   core

     management  package.   Alloc  is  given  a size in bytes; it

     returns a pointer to an area at least  that  size  which  is

     even and hence can hold an object of any type.  The argument

     to free is a pointer to  an  area  previously  allocated  by

     alloc; this space is made available for further allocation.



     Needless to say, grave disorder will  result  if  the  space

     assigned  by  alloc  is  overrun or if some random number is

     handed to free.



     The routine  uses  a  first-fit  algorithm  which  coalesces

     blocks being freed with other blocks already free.  It calls

     sbrk (see break (II)) to get more core from the system  when

     there is no suitable space already free.



DIAGNOSTICS

     Returns -1 if there is no available core.



BUGS

     Allocated memory contains garbage instead of being cleared.
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