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| <h5 class="subsubsection">3.2.5.3 Disadvantages of <code>alloca</code></h5> |
| |
| <p><a name="index-g_t_0040code_007balloca_007d-disadvantages-347"></a><a name="index-disadvantages-of-_0040code_007balloca_007d-348"></a>These are the disadvantages of <code>alloca</code> in comparison with |
| <code>malloc</code>: |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li>If you try to allocate more memory than the machine can provide, you |
| don't get a clean error message. Instead you get a fatal signal like |
| the one you would get from an infinite recursion; probably a |
| segmentation violation (see <a href="Program-Error-Signals.html#Program-Error-Signals">Program Error Signals</a>). |
| |
| <li>Some non-GNU systems fail to support <code>alloca</code>, so it is less |
| portable. However, a slower emulation of <code>alloca</code> written in C |
| is available for use on systems with this deficiency. |
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