All nighters

[Japher]

no idea. malloc, sounds like some sort of scandinavian fish dish

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

If it ends up summoning Nyarlathotep I'm going to be extremely disappointed with certain posters.

[Japher]

Apolyton is the name
Disappointement is the game

[regexcellent]

I'm the idiot, yet you're the one who apparently did not comprehend my statement. malloc (and more importantly, free) implementations were also in my school's curriculum. I'm sure you learned a ton implementing malloc. I didn't. I didn't need to learn it. I already knew it on my own.

I cracked open libc's malloc/free before I even started university to understand how they worked.

Sure, learning about malloc is useless to people who already know about malloc, but don't you think that's a bit tautological?

In any case the assignment here was specifically to do it using the buddy algorithm, which I don't think is the way most actual malloc() implementations work.

What the hell are these people talking about?

malloc() is the C library function for allocating and deallocating system memory to a program.

[Japher]

even with that explination I don't know what you are talking about

I assume it's some programming thing for computers, but as far as I am concerned this is all due to magic

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

malloc() is the C library function for allocating and deallocating system memory to a program.

Fah. Come back when you're dealing with the A library and maybe we'll be impressed.

[Uncle Sparky]

So it all has to do with libraries, which computers are making obsolete... get with the times!

[loinburger]

Good night! [/kidicious-mode]

[loinburger]

Perhaps an analogy would help. Let's say that you want to eat fifty potatoes- this means that you would call the "malloc" function asking for fifty potatoes, and the function gives you fifty potatoes (assuming that it's got fifty potatoes to give to you, otherwise it returns a null potato). Then when you're done eating the potatoes, you would regurgitate them and call the "free" function so that the "malloc" function can give your regurgitated potatoes to somebody else. If you never return the regurgitated potatoes, then this is called a "memory leak" (or a "potato leak" in this case) and eventually malloc may run out of potatoes; if you accidentally return the regurgitated potatoes twice, then this causes a paradox and the universe explodes. Another problem is if you return the regurgitated potatoes but then try to eat them again anyway, which can cause problems because this means that you and somebody else are eating the same potatoes at the same time.

[Colonâ„¢]

Potatoe? Or potato?

[loinburger]

Puh-tah-toe

[BlackCat]

Next step is of course to implement your own version of valgrind so you can find the leaks in your malloc implementation

[Ben Kenobi]

don't you think that's a bit tautological?

You shouldn't use big words like that. This is asher, remember? He's probably been using them since he was 2.

[Asher]

Sure, learning about malloc is useless to people who already know about malloc, but don't you think that's a bit tautological?

You would think so, but they make you do it anyway.

[Asher]

You shouldn't use big words like that. This is asher, remember? He's probably been using them since he was 2.

Tautology isn't a big word. It's a concept taught in high school. An extremely simple concept. As it is a logical concept, I have no doubt you cannot comprehend its meaning.