Re: how to use lmem.h ?

[Irayo <irayo.lt@...>]

On Feb 21, 2009, at 10:29 AM, Bertrand Mansion wrote:

> Is there something wrong with this code ?
> Also, is there something wrong in using malloc/free in Lua modules ?

At first glance I see nothing wrong with the code, but it's been a  
while since I've dealt with this.
The reason for using lua_getallocf() instead of malloc/free is so that  
the Lua user's allocation function is used.  The user can define an  
allocator that is more efficient for their operating system (esp.  
embedded systems which might have small amounts of memory), and this  
allocator might not use malloc/free or might malloc/free larger chunks  
at once to prevent memory fragmentation.  By using lua_getallocf you  
can take advantage of those things.
In addition, running out of memory using the user's allocator function  
causes Lua to throw an out-of-memory error, which is catchable by  
pcall, etc.  malloc/free would not normally do this without further  
programming.
(Lua's allocator function can be overwritten by the C API or by other  
modules with lua_setallocf.)
> --
> Bertrand Mansion
> Mamasam