1FREE(3P)                   POSIX Programmer's Manual                  FREE(3P)
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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.
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NAME

12       free — free allocated memory
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SYNOPSIS

15       #include <stdlib.h>
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17       void free(void *ptr);
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DESCRIPTION

20       The functionality described on this reference page is aligned with  the
21       ISO C  standard.  Any  conflict between the requirements described here
22       and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This  volume  of  POSIX.1‐2017
23       defers to the ISO C standard.
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25       The free() function shall cause the space pointed to by ptr to be deal‐
26       located; that is, made available for further allocation. If  ptr  is  a
27       null  pointer,  no  action shall occur. Otherwise, if the argument does
28       not match a pointer earlier returned by a function in POSIX.1‐2008 that
29       allocates  memory  as  if by malloc(), or if the space has been deallo‐
30       cated by a call to free() or realloc(), the behavior is undefined.
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32       Any use of a pointer that refers to freed space  results  in  undefined
33       behavior.
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RETURN VALUE

36       The free() function shall not return a value.
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ERRORS

39       No errors are defined.
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41       The following sections are informative.
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EXAMPLES

44       None.
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APPLICATION USAGE

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

51       None.
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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

54       None.
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SEE ALSO

57       calloc(), malloc(), posix_memalign(), realloc()
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59       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <stdlib.h>
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62       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in  electronic  form
63       from  IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Por‐
64       table Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base  Specifi‐
65       cations  Issue  7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of
66       Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.   In  the
67       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
68       The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard
69       is  the  referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
70       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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72       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear  in  this  page  are
73       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
74       files to man page format. To report such errors,  see  https://www.ker‐
75       nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
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79IEEE/The Open Group                  2017                             FREE(3P)
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