ALLOCA(3)

NAME
alloca - memory allocator

SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>

void *alloca( size_t size);

DESCRIPTION
The alloca function allocates size bytes of space in the stack frame of the caller. This temporary space is automatically freed on return.

RETURN VALUES
The alloca function returns a pointer to the beginning of the allocated space. If the allocation failed, a NULL pointer is returned.

HISTORY
There is evidence that the alloca function appears in 32v, pwb, pwb.2, 3bsd, and 4bsd. There is a man page for it in BSD 4.3. Linux uses the GNU version.

BUGS
The alloca function is machine dependent.

SEE ALSO
brk(2), pagesize(2), calloc(3), malloc(3), realloc(3)