Free Store vs. Heap: Are They Really Different in C ?

Free-Store vs Heap: A Conceptual Distinction

In C , dynamic allocations using new and delete are commonly associated with the concept of a "free-store," while operations like malloc and free are said to utilize the "heap." However, a question arises: is there a practical difference between these two terms?

Compilation Distinction

Compilers do not differentiate between the terms "free store" and "heap" in terms of their actual implementation. Both refer to the area of memory where dynamically allocated objects reside.

Conceptual Separation

Despite their lack of actual distinction, the terms serve a conceptual purpose. They emphasize the importance of keeping new and delete separate from malloc, realloc, and free. Mixing these operations can lead to memory management issues and undefined behavior.

Interview Considerations

During interviews, it is beneficial to demonstrate an understanding of the traditional distinction between the free-store and the heap. Mention that new and delete use the free-store and invoke constructors and destructors, while malloc and free manage memory without such functionality.

Potential Implementation Differences

While the free-store and the heap may overlap in some implementations, it is possible for compilers to assign separate memory pools for each concept. However, the specific behavior is dependent on the compiler implementation.

In practice, the distinction between the free-store and the heap remains mainly conceptual. It serves as a reminder to follow best practices for dynamic memory management and avoid mixing different allocation mechanisms.

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