std::realloc(3)

NAME
std::realloc - std::realloc

Synopsis
   Defined in header <cstdlib>
   void* realloc( void* ptr, std::size_t new_size );
   Reallocates the given area of memory. It must be previously allocated by
   std::malloc(), std::calloc() or std::realloc() and not yet freed with std::free(),
   otherwise, the results are undefined.
   The reallocation is done by either:
   a) expanding or contracting the existing area pointed to by ptr, if possible. The
   contents of the area remain unchanged up to the lesser of the new and old sizes. If
   the area is expanded, the contents of the new part of the array are undefined.
   b) allocating a new memory block of size new_size bytes, copying memory area with
   size equal the lesser of the new and the old sizes, and freeing the old block.
   If there is not enough memory, the old memory block is not freed and null pointer is
   returned.
   If ptr is a null pointer, the behavior is the same as calling std::malloc(new_size).
   If new_size is zero, the behavior is implementation defined: null pointer may be
   returned (in which case the old memory block may or may not be freed) or some
   non-null pointer may be returned that may not be used to access storage.
   Such usage is deprecated (via C DR 400).
   (since C++20)
   The following functions are required to be thread-safe:
     * The library versions of operator new and operator delete
     * User replacement versions of global operator new and operator
       delete
     * std::calloc, std::malloc, std::realloc, (since C++11)
       std::aligned_alloc
       (since C++17), std::free
   Calls to these functions that allocate or deallocate a particular unit
   of storage occur in a single total order, and each such deallocation
   call happens-before the next allocation (if any) in this order.

Parameters
   ptr - pointer to the memory area to be reallocated
   new_size - new size of the array

Return value
   On success, returns a pointer to the beginning of newly allocated memory. To avoid a
   memory leak, the returned pointer must be deallocated with std::free(), the original
   pointer ptr is invalidated and any access to it is undefined behavior (even if
   reallocation was in-place).
   On failure, returns a null pointer. The original pointer ptr remains valid and may
   need to be deallocated with std::free()

Notes
   Because reallocation may involve bytewise copying (regardless of whether it's to
   expand or to contract), only the objects of TriviallyCopyable types are safe to
   access in the preserved part of the memory block after a call to realloc.
   Some non-standard libraries define a type trait "BitwiseMovable" or "Relocatable",
   which describes a type that doesn't have:
     * external references (e.g. nodes of a list or a tree that holds reference to
       another element), and
     * internal references (e.g. member pointer which might hold the address of another
       member).
   Objects of such type can be accessed after their storage is reallocated even if
   their copy constructors are not trivial.

Example
// Run this code
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <new>
 #include <cassert>
 class MallocDynamicBuffer
 {
     char* p;
 public:
     explicit MallocDynamicBuffer(std::size_t initial = 0) : p(nullptr) {
        resize(initial);
     }
     ~MallocDynamicBuffer() { std::free(p); }
     void resize(std::size_t newSize) {
         if(newSize == 0) { // this check is not strictly needed,
             std::free(p); // but zero-size realloc is deprecated in C
             p = nullptr;
         } else {
             if(void* mem = std::realloc(p, newSize))
                 p = static_cast<char*>(mem);
             else
                 throw std::bad_alloc();
         }
     }
     char& operator[](size_t n) { return p[n]; }
     char operator[](size_t n) const { return p[n]; }
 };
 int main()
 {
     MallocDynamicBuffer buf1(1024);
     buf1[5] = 'f';
     buf1.resize(10); // shrink
     assert(buf1[5] == 'f');
     buf1.resize(1024); // grow
     assert(buf1[5] == 'f');
 }

See also