FREE(3P)                                            POSIX Programmer's Manual                                           FREE(3P)



PROLOG
       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (con-
       sult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the  interface  may  not  be  implemented  on
       Linux.

NAME
       free - free allocated memory

SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdlib.h>

       void free(void *ptr);


DESCRIPTION
       The  free() function shall cause the space pointed to by ptr to be deallocated; that is, made available for further allo-
       cation. If ptr is a null pointer, no action shall occur.  Otherwise, if the argument does not  match  a  pointer  earlier
       returned by the calloc(), malloc(), posix_memalign(),  realloc(), or   strdup()  function, or if the space has been deal-
       located by a call to free() or realloc(), the behavior is undefined.

       Any use of a pointer that refers to freed space results in undefined behavior.

RETURN VALUE
       The free() function shall not return a value.

ERRORS
       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES
       None.

APPLICATION USAGE
       There is now no requirement for the implementation to support the inclusion of <malloc.h>.

RATIONALE
       None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       calloc(), malloc(), realloc(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <stdlib.h>

COPYRIGHT
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003  Edition,  Standard  for
       Information  Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copy-
       right (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any
       discrepancy  between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
       Standard  is  the  referee   document.   The   original   Standard   can   be   obtained   online   at   http://www.open-
       group.org/unix/online.html .



IEEE/The Open Group                                           2003                                                      FREE(3P)