On Nov 14, 2007 10:54 AM, steve uurtamo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I just wanted to point out that free() is not a system call. The heap is > handled by the > > C library, and the OS is mostly not involved in it. > > > > my bad. thanks. :) > > in that case, i'm impressed that i can do 2GB allocations.
Well, the process has some memory assigned to it, and the C library will ask for more when it runs out (most likely when you allocate 2GB), but most calls to malloc() won't result in a system call, and I don't think a call to free() ever results in a system call. The details of how more memory is acquired depend on the platform. You can get a very good idea of how all of this works by reading section 8.7 of "The C programming language", by Kernighan and Ritchie. Álvaro.
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