explain_realloc_or_die(3)

💖 explain_realloc_or_die — Library Functions Manual 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because this one is a lifesaver and it's from the Library Functions Manual section of the libexplain universe. it's a (3) page, so it's a library function, not some scary syscall you have to tiptoe around. 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

explain_realloc_or_die — allocate and free dynamic memory and report errors

like. it does the realloc thing. and if it goes wrong, it tells you why before it dramatically exits. no mystery crashes. we love that for us. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <libexplain/realloc.h>
void explain_realloc_or_die(void *ptr, size_t size);

there it is. that's the whole vibe. two arguments, no return value worth talking about (more on that in a sec, and it's a whole thing).

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the tea: the explain_realloc_or_die function is used to call the realloc(3) system call. 🎀

and if that fails? it does not just leave you hanging. on failure an explanation will be printed to stderr, obtained from explain_realloc(3), and then the process terminates by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE). yeah. it kills your program. on purpose. with receipts. 😭

ngl that's the whole point though — this function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

void *new_ptr = explain_realloc_or_die(ptr, size);

clean. iconic. no if (new_ptr == NULL) boilerplate, no checking errno, no nothing. it just handles it. periodt. ✨

here's what those arguments actually are, one by one:

• ptr — the ptr, exactly as to be passed to the realloc(3) system call.
• size — the size, exactly as to be passed to the realloc(3) system call.

like, exactly. don't get cute with it, don't pre-adjust anything, just hand over the same values you'd hand to realloc(3) itself. iykyk. 💜

Returns:

• This function only returns on success. on failure, it prints an explanation and exits.

🚨 bestie READ THIS PART: there is no error return. ever. if it returns, you're golden. if it doesn't return, it's because it called exit(EXIT_FAILURE) and your process is gone. so please, please do not write code that checks the return value for NULL — it literally cannot give you one. that's not a vibe check you can pass. 💀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• realloc(3) — allocate and free dynamic memory
• explain_realloc(3) — explain realloc(3) errors
• exit(2) — terminate the calling process

go read explain_realloc(3) if you wanna know where all those gorgeous error explanations come from, and exit(2) if you're curious about the dramatic exit itself. 👑

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

libexplain version 1.4 Copyright (C) 2009 Peter Miller

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and that's the page, bestie!! 🎀✨ this was explain_realloc_or_die(3) from the Library Functions Manual, and the copyright vibes come courtesy of libexplain version 1.4, Copyright (C) 2009 Peter Miller. go forth and allocate memory with main character energy, and remember: it only returns on success, so if it's back, you ate. 💅💖🦋