1FREE(3P)                   POSIX Programmer's Manual                  FREE(3P)
2
3
4

PROLOG

6       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
7       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the  corresponding
8       Linux  manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9       not be implemented on Linux.
10
11

NAME

13       free — free allocated memory
14

SYNOPSIS

16       #include <stdlib.h>
17
18       void free(void *ptr);
19

DESCRIPTION

21       The functionality described on this reference page is aligned with  the
22       ISO C  standard.  Any  conflict between the requirements described here
23       and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This  volume  of  POSIX.1‐2008
24       defers to the ISO C standard.
25
26       The free() function shall cause the space pointed to by ptr to be deal‐
27       located; that is, made available for further allocation. If  ptr  is  a
28       null  pointer,  no  action shall occur. Otherwise, if the argument does
29       not match a pointer earlier returned by a function in POSIX.1‐2008 that
30       allocates  memory  as  if by malloc(), or if the space has been deallo‐
31       cated by a call to free() or realloc(), the behavior is undefined.
32
33       Any use of a pointer that refers to freed space  results  in  undefined
34       behavior.
35

RETURN VALUE

37       The free() function shall not return a value.
38

ERRORS

40       No errors are defined.
41
42       The following sections are informative.
43

EXAMPLES

45       None.
46

APPLICATION USAGE

48       There  is  now  no  requirement  for  the implementation to support the
49       inclusion of <malloc.h>.
50

RATIONALE

52       None.
53

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

55       None.
56

SEE ALSO

58       calloc(), malloc(), posix_memalign(), realloc()
59
60       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <stdlib.h>
61

63       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in  electronic  form
64       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
65       -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX),  The  Open  Group  Base
66       Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri‐
67       cal and Electronics Engineers,  Inc  and  The  Open  Group.   (This  is
68       POSIX.1-2008  with  the  2013  Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the
69       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
70       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
71       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained  online
72       at http://www.unix.org/online.html .
73
74       Any  typographical  or  formatting  errors that appear in this page are
75       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
76       files  to  man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.ker‐
77       nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
78
79
80
81IEEE/The Open Group                  2013                             FREE(3P)
Impressum