Re: Memory management and custom allocator

From	Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: Memory management and custom allocator
Date	2012-01-02 18:19 -0500
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<jdte21$im7$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<911c685c-3bf9-4079-bf61-66342d8a8c2c@u6g2000vbc.googlegroups.com> <jdpp3r$8h3$1@dont-email.me> <jdqjtf$bqd$1@reader1.panix.com> <jdsact$nr6$1@dont-email.me> <jdt8hb$67l$1@reader1.panix.com>

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On 1/2/2012 4:45 PM, Joe keane wrote:
> In article<jdsact$nr6$1@dont-email.me>,
> Eric Sosman<esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid>  wrote:
>>      If you have a forty-four-byte struct and allocate sixty-four
>> bytes to hold it, how have you avoided *either* sort of "waste?"
>
> I think the context is where you're writing some dynamic array
> [e.g. string or vector] and you have some control over the sequence of
> capacities [at least that's what i thought].  Of course, you do not want
> to call realloc on every operation; you want the progression to be
> exponential.  In such a case, powers of two are very logical.

     (Shrug.)  No more logical than powers of three, or of three halves
(`size += size/2').

     I don't know when the number Two starts to exercise its mystical
fascination for programmers, but the fascination certainly exists: You
find people reaching for powers of two "just because," with no actual
reason for the choice.  Maybe it's when the neophyte first learns that
he can sometimes shift instead of multiplying and dividing, or that he
can use AND to calculate some remainders.  This may strike the young
and credulous as evidence that Two is magical, and just as some folks
never get over the Tooth Fairy, others never get over the Two'th Fairy.

     Yes, folks, yes, there certainly *are* circumstances where power-
of-two sizes are Just What The Doctor Ordered.  But there's no good
reason to make everything in sight a power of two!  If you allocate
128 array elements to represent the 88 keys of a piano, or sixteen
for the Twelve Days of Christmas, or thirty-two for your fingers and
toes, you're just being silly.  Or superstitious.

-- 
Eric Sosman
esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid

Thread

[Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2011-12-31 06:56 -0800
  Re: [Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-12-31 11:08 -0500
    Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2011-12-31 08:28 -0800
  Re: [Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator Johann Klammer <klammerr@NOSPAM.aon.at> - 2011-12-31 17:39 +0100
    Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2011-12-31 08:55 -0800
      Re: Memory management and custom allocator Johann Klammer <klammerr@NOSPAM.aon.at> - 2011-12-31 19:01 +0100
        Re: Memory management and custom allocator Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2011-12-31 18:31 +0000
  Re: [Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2011-12-31 17:24 +0000
    Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2011-12-31 09:52 -0800
      Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2011-12-31 14:30 -0500
      Re: Memory management and custom allocator Markus Wichmann <nullplan@gmx.net> - 2012-01-01 12:21 +0100
        Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-01 12:54 +0000
          Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-01 09:03 -0500
            Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-01 16:23 +0000
            Re: Memory management and custom allocator jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-01-01 21:41 +0000
              Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-02 08:10 -0500
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-02 14:07 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-02 09:47 -0500
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2012-01-02 08:36 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-02 13:43 -0500
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2012-01-02 11:38 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-01-03 13:14 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-03 06:07 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-05 17:06 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-02 21:36 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-01-02 21:44 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-02 23:10 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-01-02 13:42 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-02 17:38 -0500
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-01-02 21:45 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-02 18:19 -0500
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-01-02 15:42 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-02 23:59 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Kleuske <kleuske@nowhere.net> - 2012-01-03 11:38 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-03 12:49 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-01-04 23:42 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-04 20:23 -0500
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Phil Carmody <thefatphil_demunged@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-01-05 23:31 +0200
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-01-04 21:52 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-04 20:31 -0500
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-05 01:45 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator Phil Carmody <thefatphil_demunged@yahoo.co.uk> - 2012-01-07 05:55 +0200
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-07 12:02 +0000
          Re: Memory management and custom allocator Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-01-01 09:08 -0500
            Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2012-01-01 10:08 -0800
              Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-01 23:34 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2012-01-02 02:18 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-02 02:34 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2012-01-02 02:43 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-02 03:11 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2012-01-02 08:17 -0800
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-02 11:40 +0000
                Re: Memory management and custom allocator FtM <fmassei@gmail.com> - 2012-01-02 08:27 -0800
          Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-01 23:26 +0000
            Re: Memory management and custom allocator Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-01 23:54 +0000
              Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-02 00:32 +0000
          Re: Memory management and custom allocator Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-01-02 02:46 +0000
            Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-02 11:53 +0000
              Re: Memory management and custom allocator Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-02 15:18 +0000
          Re: Memory management and custom allocator jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-01-03 12:21 +0000
          Re: Memory management and custom allocator Karl Malbrain <malbrain@yahoo.com> - 2012-01-04 16:48 -0800
            Re: Memory management and custom allocator "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-05 01:36 +0000
  Re: [Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator "io_x" <a@b.c.invalid> - 2012-01-01 17:02 +0100
  Re: [Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-01-01 21:21 +0000
  Re: [Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-01 21:01 -0800
  Re: [Slightly OT] Memory management and custom allocator 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-07 05:20 -0800

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