tcp_malloc(3)

💖 tcp_malloc(3) 💖

okay bestie so this is the z88dk Programmer's Manual page for tcp_calloc, tcp_malloc and tcp_free — the memory girlies of ZSock. yes it's called tcp_malloc(3) but there's a whole squad in here. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

tcp_calloc, tcp_malloc, tcp_free — allocate and free memory 💅

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <net/misc.h>

void *tcp_calloc(size_t nmemb, size_t size);
void *tcp_malloc(size_t size);
void tcp_free(void *ptr);

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so calloc() grabs memory for an array of nmemb elements, each one size bytes big, and hands you back a pointer to that memory. and the memory? set to zero. squeaky clean, no mystery bytes, we love a fresh start ✨

malloc() grabs size bytes and returns a pointer to the memory it got you. but heads up bestie — the memory is not cleared. whatever was there before is still there. no notes, that's just how it is 🫣

free() releases the memory space that ptr points to. and this is the part where you gotta be careful, fr fr: that ptr must have been returned by a previous call to malloc() or calloc(). otherwise, or if free(ptr) already got called before, undefined behaviour occurs 💀 like genuinely, we don't know what happens, it's giving chaos.

one lil mercy tho: if ptr is NULL, no operation is performed. nothing happens. iconic, honestly 👑

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🦋 RETURN VALUES 🦋

for calloc() and malloc(): you get back a pointer to the allocated memory — and it's suitably aligned for any kind of variable, which is very generous of it — or NULL if the request fails 😭

free() returns no value. it just... does the thing. main character, no receipts 💅

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

• tcp_pagein(3z)
• tcp_pageout(3z)

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⭐ NOTES ⭐

okay so here's the lore. these functions manipulate memory in a private memory page belonging to ZSock. that page is 16k, and it holds all the buffers that ZSock uses. so yeah — requests for large amounts of memory are likely to fail (and honestly, in any case, they're not recommended). like bestie, it's a 16k page, be reasonable 🥺

this facility exists so that daemons can be written simply — they have no address space of their own, so they need a little something. but user applications should not use these facilities. periodt.

and if a user application needs a large amount of memory — like, >256 bytes large — then the application should either be of the BAD type, or it should be redesigned. no cap, that's the rule 🌈

tl;dr: this is daemon territory. if you're a user app, walk away. it's not for you, it's not about you 🙈

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Dominic Morris <dom@jb.man.ac.uk>

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and that's the whole page, bestie 💜 this was the z88dk Programmer's Manual, tcp_malloc(3), dated February 18 2000 — ancient, but still serving. bye pookie, go align your pointers 🎀💖