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# malloc

Example: malloc | Memory Allocation Functions

Allocates a block of memory.

    void *malloc( size_t num_bytes);

num_bytes | The size of the block of memory that is allocated.

## Return Values

Returns a void type pointer to the allocated space. If the system could not allocate the requested block of memory or if num_bytes is 0, returns a NULL pointer.

You must free the memory when you are finished with it: `free(bufferPointer);`

If you try to create a local variable that is too large or if the total size of the local variables is to large, the C interpreter throws an error "Too many local variables" instead of indicating that the buffer is too large. For example, this is an error: `char buffer[4096*8];.`

To allocate large buffers, use malloc instead of declaring the buffer as a local variable.</p>

For malloc details, refer to your C language documentation.

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