Dynamic Memory Allocation I - HMC Computer Science动态内存分配我- HMC的计算机科学.pptVIP

Dynamic Memory Allocation I Topics Simple explicit allocators Data structures Mechanisms Policies Harsh Reality Memory Matters Memory is not unbounded It must be allocated and managed Many applications are memory-dominated Memory referencing bugs especially pernicious Effects are distant in both time and space Memory performance is not uniform Cache and virtual-memory effects can greatly affect program performance Adapting program to characteristics of memory system can lead to major speed improvements Dynamic Memory Allocation Explicit vs. Implicit Memory Allocator Explicit: application allocates and frees space E.g., malloc and free in C Semi-implicit: application allocates, but does not free space E.g. garbage collection in Java Implicit: allocation and freeing done under covers ML, Lisp, Python, Perl, Ruby Allocation In all cases allocator provides abstraction of memory as set of blocks Doles out free memory blocks to application Done by run-time system (mostly in user mode) Process Memory Image Malloc Package #include stdlib.h void *malloc(size_t size) If successful: Returns a pointer to a memory block of at least size bytes, aligned to 8-byte boundary (typically) If size == 0, returns NULL (design flaw) If unsuccessful: returns NULL (0) and sets errno void free(void *p) Returns the block pointed to by p to pool of available memory p MUST come from a previous call to malloc or realloc NULL not a legal argument (design flaw, sigh) void *realloc(void *p, size_t size) Changes size of block p and returns pointer to new block NULL not legal for p Contents of new block unchanged up to min of old and new size Malloc Example Assumptions Assumptions made in this lecture Memory is byte-addressed Words are 4 bytes Pointer fits in a word (4 bytes) All diagrams are word-based Allocation Examples Constraints Applications: Can issue arbitrary sequence of allocation and free requests Free requests must correspond to an allocated block—i.e., pointer must be correct Allo