This is the mail archive of the gcc@gcc.gnu.org mailing list for the GCC project.


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]
Other format: [Raw text]

Re: Can realloc be marked as a mallloc-like function?


Hi,

First, I assume we are talking about C realloc here, not just a
"realloc-like" function which may have other semantics and for which
__attribute_malloc__ may not be appropriate.

> > It looks like gcc assumes a functon marked with DECL_IS_MALLOC won't
> > return an address which can alias something else. But it isn't true
> > for realloc. Now, the qestions are
> >
> > 1. Can gcc make such an assumption?
> 
> No, it can't.  The returned memory may alias the original memory.

After realloc(p, s) has returned non-NULL, the "original object"
doesn't exist any more, hence there can't be any aliases.

> > 2. Can realloc be marked as DECL_IS_MALLOC.
> 
> ... with DECL_IS_MALLOC the following
> 
> int *p;
> p = malloc (4);
> *p = 0;
> p = realloc (p, 4);
> *p = 1;
> 
> will have VOPs that do not prevent re-ordering of the two stores.

By that reasoning, consider:

 int *p;
 p = malloc (4);
 *p = 0;
 free(p);
 p = malloc (4); /* this is very likely to return the same address as before */
 *p = 1;

What prevents the reordering of the stores in this case?
Should we also remove __attribute_malloc__ from malloc :-)?
IMHO this is an object lifetime issue not an aliasing issue.

> > BTW, glibc also marks realloc with __attribute_malloc__.
> 
> Which is wrong as well.

I disagree.

Of course, the gcc developers get to define the semantics of
__attribute_malloc__, but according to the gcc manual, the attribute
only refers to the _result_ of the attributed function, hence I would
intuitively expect that I can safely mark:

int *destroy_something_and_allocate_anotherthing(int *p)
{
	free(p);
	return malloc(sizeof(int)); /* again very likely to return the
		same as the previous p */
}

as __attribute_malloc__.

Regards,
Wolfram.


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]