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From: jss@hector.UUCP (Jerry Schwarz)
Newsgroups: comp.std.c
Subject: Re: realloc
Message-ID: <11418@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com>
Date: 7 Apr 89 14:33:42 GMT
References: <9962@smoke.BRL.MIL> <3240@goofy.megatest.UUCP>
Sender: netnews@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com
Reply-To: jss@hector.UUCP (Jerry Schwarz)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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In article <3240@goofy.megatest.UUCP> djones@megatest.UUCP (Dave Jones) writes:
>
>This discussion is about the proposed ANSI behavior of malloc(0): namely
>returning (char*)0.
>

Its really about a rumor about the standard.  The actual proposed
standard says (4.10.3)

        "If the size of the space requested is zero, the behavior is
        implementation-defined; the value returned shall be either a
        null pointer or a unique pointer."

In other words the status of malloc(0) is exactly the same as it is
now.  In some implementations it will return a null pointer and in
others it won't.  A program that assumes either behavior may be
conforming but not strictly conforming (i.e. not maximally portable).


Jerry Schwarz
AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill