Carnegie Mellon

Dynamic Memory Allocation:

Basic Concepts

15-213/18-213/15-513: Introduction to Computer

Systems 13th Lecture, October 12, 2021
 Bryant and O’Hallaron, Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective, Third Edition 1
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Announcements
⬛ No lecture on Thursday October 14

⬛ Malloclab out today

▪ Checkpoint due on Tuesday October 26 (+ up to 2 grace days) ▪ Final
submission due on Tuesday November 2 (+ up to 2 grace days)
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Today
⬛Basic concepts ⬛
Implicit free lists
 Bryant and O’Hallaron, Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective, Third Edition 3
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Dynamic Memory
Allocation
Application
Dynamic Memory Allocator
Heap

⬛Programmers use dynamic memory allocators (such as

malloc) to acquire virtual memory (VM) at runtime
▪ For data structures whose size is only known at runtime
⬛Dynamic memory allocators manage an area of process
VM known as the heap

ion for shared libraries

(.init, .text, .rodata) Unused

invisible to user code

%rsp
(stack
pointer)
 brk

Loaded
from
the
executable file

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Dynamic Memory Allocation

▪ Explicit allocator: application allocates and frees space ▪
e.g., malloc and free in C
▪ Implicit allocator: application allocates, but does not free space
▪ e.g., new and garbage collection in Java
⬛ Will discuss simple explicit memory allocation today

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▪ Returns a pointer to a memory block of at least size bytes

aligned to a 16-byte boundary (on x86-64)
▪ If size == 0, returns NULL
▪ Unsuccessful: returns NULL (0) and sets errno
void free(void *p)
▪ Returns the block pointed at by p to pool of available memory ▪ p
must come from a previous call to malloc, calloc, or realloc
Other functions
▪ calloc: Version of malloc that initializes allocated block to zero
▪ realloc: Changes the size of a previously allocated block ▪
 sbrk: Used internally by allocators to grow or shrink the heap
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malloc Example
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

void foo(long n) {
long i, *p;

/* Allocate a block of n longs */

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Visualization Conventions
⬛Show 8-byte words as squares ⬛
Allocations are double-word aligned
 Free block

(2 words)
Free word Allocated word

Allocated block (4 words)

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Allocation Example
(Conceptual) p3 = malloc(6*SIZ)

p1 = malloc(4*SIZ) free(p2)

p2 = malloc(5*SIZ) p4 = malloc(2*SIZ)
#define SIZ sizeof(size_t)

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Constraints
or size of allocated blocks
▪ Must respond immediately to malloc requests
▪ i.e., can’t reorder or buffer requests
▪ Must allocate blocks from free memory
▪ i.e., can only place allocated blocks in free memory ▪Must
align blocks so they satisfy all alignment requirements ▪
16-byte (x86-64) alignment on 64-bit systems
▪ Can manipulate and modify only free memory
▪ Can’t move the allocated blocks once they are malloc’d ▪
i.e., compaction is not allowed. Why not?
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Performance Goal: Throughput

⬛ Given some sequence of malloc and free
 ▪ Number of completed requests per unit time
▪ Example:
▪ 5,000 malloc calls and 5,000 free calls in 10 seconds
▪ Throughput is 1,000 operations/second

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Performance Goal: Minimize Overhead

⬛ Given some sequence of malloc and free
requests: ▪ ��0, ��1, … , ����, … , ����−1
⬛ After �� requests we have:

⬛ Def: Aggregate payload ����

▪ malloc(p) results in a block with a payload of p bytes
▪ The aggregate payload ���� is the sum of currently allocated
payloads ▪ The peak aggregate payload max
 ��≤������is
the maximum aggregate payload
at any point in the sequence up to request

⬛ Def: Current heap size ����

▪ Assume heap only grows when allocator uses sbrk, never shrinks

⬛ Def: Overhead, ����

▪ Fraction of heap space NOT used for program data
▪ ���� = (����Τmax��≤�� ����) − 1.0
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Benchmark Example
▪ f = free
⬛Benchmark ▪ Bias toward allocate at beginning &
syn-array-short free at end

▪ Trace provided with ▪ Blocks number 1–10

malloc lab ▪ Allocated: Sum of all
▪ Allocate & free 10 blocks ▪ a = allocate allocated amounts
▪ Peak: Max so far of
Allocated 14 f
Step 15 f
1 16 a
2 17 f
18 f
3
19 f
4
20 f

5
6
7
8
9
10
11

12
13
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Benchmark Visualization
8 f 0 -9904 54188 76792

9 a 6 2012 2012 56200 76792

Step Command Delta Allocated Peak 10 f 2 -20 56180 76792
1 a 0 9904 9904 9904 9904 11 a 7 33856 33856 90036 90036
2 a 1 50084 50084 59988 59988 12 f 1 -50084 39952 90036
3 a 2 20 20 60008 60008 13 a 8 136 136 40088 90036
4 a 3 16784 16784 76792 76792 14 f 7 -33856 6232 90036
5 f 3 -16784 60008 76792 15 f 6 -2012 4220 90036
6 a 4 840 840 60848 76792 16 a 9 20 20 4240 90036
7 a 5 3244 3244 64092 76792 17 f 4 -840 3400 90036
 18 f 8 -136 3264 90036 0.4

19 f 5 -3244 20 90036

20 f 9 -20 0 90036
0.2

0
Normalized Aggregate Memory

0.8

0.6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Step

Allocated Peak

▪ Plot ���� (allocated) and max

��≤������ (peak)

as a function of �� (step)
▪ Y-axis normalized — fraction of maximum

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 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

Typical
Benchmark
Behavior
1.4 Data Fit
1.2 DAllocated ata Peak
1.0

Memory Used / Peak Data

0.0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Operation / Operation Count

⬛ Longer sequence of mallocs & frees (40,000 blocks)

▪ Starts with all mallocs, and shifts toward all frees
⬛ Allocator must manage space efficiently the whole time

⬛ Production allocators can shrink the heap

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Fragmentation
⬛ Poor memory utilization caused by fragmentation
▪ Internal fragmentation
▪ External fragmentation

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Internal Fragmentation
⬛ For a given block, internal fragmentation occurs if payload is
smaller than block size

Block

Payload Internal fragmentation

Internal
fragmentation⬛ Caused by

▪ Overhead of maintaining heap data structures

▪ Padding for alignment purposes
▪ Explicit policy decisions
(e.g., to return a big block to satisfy a small request)

⬛ Depends only on the pattern of previous requests ▪

Thus, easy to measure
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Memory Used / Peak Data
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

Internal
Fragmentation
Effect 1.4 Perfect Fit
Data Fit
DAllocated ata
Peak + Internal FragPeak
1.2
1.0

0.0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Operation / Operation Count

⬛ Purple line: additional heap size due to

allocator’s data + padding for alignment
▪ For this benchmark, 1.5% overhead
▪ Cannot achieve in practice
▪ Especially since cannot move allocated blocks
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 Fragmentation
External #define SIZ sizeof(size_t)

⬛ Occurs when there is enough aggregate heap memory,

but no single free block is large enough
p1 = malloc(4*SIZ)

p2 = malloc(5*SIZ)

p3 = malloc(6*SIZ)

free(p2)

p4 = malloc(7*SIZ) Yikes! (what would happen now?)

⬛ Depends on the pattern of future requests

▪ Thus, difficult to measure
 Bryant and O’Hallaron, Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective, Third Edition 20
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Memory Used / Peak Data
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2

External
Fragmentation
Effect 1.4
Best Fit
Perfect Fit
Data Fit
DAllocated ata
Peak + All Frag (Best Fit)Peak + Internal Frag Peak
1.2
1.0

0.0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Operation / Operation Count

⬛ Green line: additional heap size due to external fragmentation

⬛ Best Fit: One allocation strategy

▪ (To be discussed later)

▪ Total overhead = 8.3% on this benchmark

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Implementation Issues
⬛ How do we know how much memory to free given just a
pointer?

⬛ How do we keep track of the free blocks?

⬛ What do we do with the extra space when allocating a

structure that is smaller than the free block it is placed
in?

⬛ How do we pick a block to use for allocation -- many

might fit?

⬛ How do we reuse a block that has been freed?

 Bryant and O’Hallaron, Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective, Third Edition 22
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Knowing How Much to Free

⬛ Standard method
▪ Keep the length (in bytes) of a block in the word preceding the
block.
▪ Including the header
▪ This word is often called the header field or header
▪ Requires an extra word for every allocated block

p0
p0 = malloc(4*SIZ)
48
block size Payload (aligned)
Padding
(for alignment)

free(p0)
 Bryant and O’Hallaron, Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective, Third Edition 23
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Unused

Keeping Track of Free 32 48 32 16

Blocks ⬛ Method 1: Implicit

list using length—links all blocks Need to tag each block as allocated/free

⬛ Method 2: Explicit list among the free blocks using pointers

classes ⬛ Method 4: Blocks sorted
32 48 32 16
by size
⬛ Method 3: Segregated free list
Need space for pointers
▪ Different free lists for different size
 ▪ Can use a balanced tree (e.g., Red-Black tree) with pointers within
each free block, and the length used as a key
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Today
⬛Basic concepts ⬛
Implicit free lists
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Method 1: Implicit Free List

⬛ For each block we need both size and allocation status
▪ Could store this information in two words: wasteful!
⬛ Standard trick
▪ When blocks are aligned, some low-order address bits are always 0
▪ Instead of storing an always-0 bit, use it as an allocated/free flag ▪
When reading the Size word, must mask out this bit
1 word
Payload
free blocks
Size
a Optional
padding
Format of
allocated and
a = 1: Allocated block a = 0: Free Payload: application data (allocated
block blocks only)

Size: total block size

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 Detailed Implicit Free List Example End

Start of Unused Block 8/1

heap
16/0 32/1 64/0 32/1

heap_start heap_end
Headers: labeled with “size in
words/allocated bit” Headers are at
Double-word aligned
non-aligned positions
Allocated blocks: shaded
➔ Payloads are aligned
Free blocks: unshaded

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Implicit List: Data Structures

 header payload
⬛ Block declaration
typedef uint64_t word_t;
typedef struct block
{
word_t header;
unsigned char payload[0]; // Zero length array
} block_t;

⬛ Getting payload from block pointer // block_t *block

return (void *)
(block->payload);
// bp points to a payload
⬛ Getting header from payload
return (block_t *) ((unsigned char *) bp
- offsetof(block_t, payload));

C function offsetof(struct, member) returns offset of member within struct

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 block->header = size | alloc;
Implicit List:
Header access Size a

⬛ Getting allocated bit from header

return header & 0x1;

⬛ Getting size from header

return header & ~0xfL; // block_t *block

⬛ Initializing header
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static block_t *find_next(block_t

Implicit List: *block) {
return (block_t *) ((unsigned
Traversing list char *) block +
get_size(block));
}
header payload unused header payload

block size

⬛ Find next block

Unused

16/0 32/1 64/0 32/1

End
Block 8/1

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Implicit List: Finding a Free Block
⬛ First fit:
▪ Search list from beginning, choose first free block that fits:
▪ Finding space for asize bytes (including header):
static block_t *find_fit(size_t asize)
{
block_t *block;
for (block = heap_start; block != heap_end;
block = find_next(block)) {
{
if (!(get_alloc(block))
&& (asize <= get_size(block)))
return block;
}
return NULL; // No fit found
}

heap_start heap_end16/0 32/1 64/0 32/1 8/1

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Implicit List: Finding a Free
Block First fit:
⬛

▪ Search list from beginning, choose first free block that fits: ▪ Can
take linear time in total number of blocks (allocated and free) ▪ In
practice it can cause “splinters” at beginning of list
⬛ Next fit:
▪ Like first fit, but search list starting where previous search finished ▪
Should often be faster than first fit: avoids re-scanning unhelpful blocks ▪
Some research suggests that fragmentation is worse
⬛ Best fit:
▪ Search the list, choose the best free block: fits, with fewest bytes left over ▪
Keeps fragments small—usually improves memory utilization ▪ Will typically
run slower than first fit
▪ Still a greedy algorithm. No guarantee of optimality
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0.6
0.4
0.2

Comparing
Strategies 1.4

Next Fit First Fit

1.2 Best Fit
1.0 Perfect Fit
Data Fit Data
Memory Used / Peak Data
0.8

0.0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Operation / Operation Count

⬛ Total Overheads (for this benchmark) ▪

Perfect Fit: 1.6%
▪ Best Fit: 8.3%
▪ First Fit: 11.9%
▪ Next Fit: 21.6%
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Implicit List: Allocating in Free Block

⬛ Allocating in a free block: splitting
▪ Since allocated space might be smaller than free space, we might want
to split the block

32 32 48 16
8

split_block(p, 32)

32 16
32 32 16
8
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Implicit List: Splitting Free

Block split_block(p, 32)

64 p 16 32 32 16

// Warning: This code is incomplete

 static void split_block(block_t *block, size_t asize){
size_t block_size = get_size(block);

if ((block_size - asize) >= min_block_size) {

write_header(block, asize, true);
block_t *block_next = find_next(block);
write_header(block_next, block_size - asize, false);
}

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Implicit List: Freeing a Block

⬛ Simplest implementation:
▪ Need only clear the “allocated” flag
▪ But can lead to “false fragmentation”
 32 32 32 16 16
8

free(p) p

32 32 32 16 16
8

malloc(5*SIZ) Yikes!
There is enough contiguous free space, but
the allocator
won’t be able to find it

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Implicit List: Coalescing

⬛ Join (coalesce) with next/previous blocks, if they are free
▪ Coalescing with next block
32 32 16 16 8

32 logically
1
free(p) p
gone
32 32 16

48 16

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Implicit List: Coalescing
⬛ Join (coalesce) with next block, if it is free
▪ Coalescing with next block
32 16 16 8

64 logically
block?
free(p) p
▪ How do we know where it starts?
64 16 ▪ How can we determine whether its
allocated?
48 16 gone
8

▪ How do we coalesce with previous

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Implicit List: Bidirectional Coalescing

⬛ Boundary tags [Knuth73]
▪ Replicate size/allocated word at “bottom” (end) of free blocks ▪
Allows us to traverse the “list” backwards, but requires extra space ▪
Important and general technique!
 32 32 32 32 48 48 32 32 8 8

Size blocks
a = 0: Free block Payload and padding
Format of
Header Size: Total block size
a = 1: Allocated block allocated and free Payload: Application data
a (allocated blocks only)
Boundary tag
Size a (footer)

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Quiz
https://canvas.cmu.edu/courses/24383/quizzes/67237

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Implementation with Footers
header payload unused footer header payload
asize
asize
dsize

⬛ Locating footer of current block

const size_t dsize = 2*sizeof(word_t);

static word_t *header_to_footer(block_t *block)

{
size_t asize = get_size(block);
return (word_t *) (block->payload + asize - dsize);
}

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Implementation with Footers
header payload unused footer header payload

1 word

⬛ Locating footer of previous block

static word_t *find_prev_footer(block_t *block)
{
return &(block->header) - 1;
}

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Splitting Free Block: Full Version
split_block(p, 32)

64
64 16 32 32 32 32 16

static void split_block(block_t *block, size_t asize){

size_t block_size = get_size(block);

if ((block_size - asize) >= min_block_size) {

write_header(block, asize, true);
write_footer(block, asize, true);
block_t *block_next = find_next(block);
write_header(block_next, block_size - asize, false);
write_footer(block_next, block_size - asize, false); }

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Constant Time Coalescing

Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4

Allocated Allocated Free Free Free

Block being Allocated

Allocated Free
freed

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Constant Time Coalescing (Case 1)
m1 1

m1 1 n 0
m1 1
n 0 m2 1
m1 1 n 1
m2 1
n 1 m2 1

m2 1

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Constant Time Coalescing (Case 2)
m1 1

m1 1 n+m2
m1 1 0

m1 1 n 1

n 1 m2 0
n+m2 0
m2 0

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Constant Time Coalescing (Case 3)
n+m1 0

m1 0

m1 0 n 1 n+m1 0 m2 1

n 1 m2 1 m2 1

m2 1

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Constant Time Coalescing (Case 4)
n+m1+m2 0

m1 0

m1 0 n 1

n 1 m2 0

m2 0
n+m1+m2 0

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Heap Structure Dummy

Dummy
Footer 8/1 16/0 32/1 64/0 32/1 Header 8/1
Start of
heap

heap_start heap_end

⬛ Dummy footer before first header

▪ Marked as allocated
▪ Prevents accidental coalescing when freeing first block
⬛ Dummy header after last footer
▪ Prevents accidental coalescing when freeing final block

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 size_t block_size =
Top-Level Malloc get_size(block);
write_header(block, block_size,
Code true); write_footer(block,
block_size, true);

const size_t dsize = split_block(block, asize);

2*sizeof(word_t);
return header_to_payload(block);
void *mm_malloc(size_t size) }
{
size_t asize = round_up(size +

dsize, dsize); block_t *block =

find_fit(asize);
round_up(n, m) =
if (block == NULL) m *((n+m-1)/m)
return NULL;
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Top-Level Free Code

void mm_free(void *bp)
{
block_t *block = payload_to_header(bp);
size_t size = get_size(block);

write_header(block, size, false);

 write_footer(block, size, false);

coalesce_block(block);
}

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Disadvantages of Boundary Tags

⬛ Internal fragmentation
Size
a
⬛ Can it be optimized?
▪ Which blocks need the footer
tag? ▪ What does that mean? Size a
Payload and padding

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No Boundary Tag for Allocated Blocks

⬛ Boundary tag needed only for free blocks ⬛ When
sizes are multiples of 16, have 4 spare bits
 allocated b = 0: 1 word
Payload Previous block
1 word Size is free
a = 1: Allocated Size
block Size: block size
Optional
a = 0: Free
block Payload:
b = 1: Previous application Unallocated
b1 block is data b0
d Block
Size b0

Free
Block

padding

Allocate
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No Boundary Tag for Allocated Blocks

(Case 1)
 next
previous block block n 10
m1 ?1 n 11 m2 11
block n 10 m2 01
being
freed m1 ?1

Header: Use 2 bits (address bits always zero due to alignment):

(previous block allocated)<<1 | (current block
allocated)

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No Boundary Tag for Allocated Blocks

(Case 2)
 m1 ?1 n+m2 10
next
previous block block
m1 ?1 n 11
block
being
freed n+m2 10
m2 10 m2 10

Header: Use 2 bits (address bits always zero due to alignment):

(previous block allocated)<<1 | (current block
allocated)

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No Boundary Tag for Allocated Blocks

(Case 3)
 block
m1 ?0
previous block
m1 ?0 n 01
block
n+m1 ?0 m2 01
being
freed m2 11
n+m1 ?0
next

Header: Use 2 bits (address bits always zero due to alignment):

(previous block allocated)<<1 | (current block
allocated)

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No Boundary Tag for Allocated Blocks

(Case 4)
n+m1+m2 ?0 ?0

previous m2 10 m2 10
block
n+m1+m2
block
being
freed

next
block
m1 ?0

m1 ?0 n 01
Header: Use 2 bits (address bits always zero due to alignment):
(previous block allocated)<<1 | (current block
allocated)

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Summary of Key Allocator Policies
⬛ Placement policy:
▪ First-fit, next-fit, best-fit, etc.
▪ Trades off lower throughput for less fragmentation
▪ Interesting observation: segregated free lists (next lecture)
approximate a best fit placement policy without having to search
entire free list

⬛ Splitting policy:
▪ When do we go ahead and split free blocks?
▪ How much internal fragmentation are we willing to tolerate?
⬛ Coalescing policy:
▪ Immediate coalescing: coalesce each time free is called ▪ Deferred
coalescing: try to improve performance of free by deferring coalescing
until needed.

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Implicit Lists: Summary

⬛ Implementation: very simple
⬛ Allocate cost:
▪ linear time worst case
⬛ Free cost:
▪ constant time worst case
▪ even with coalescing
⬛ Memory Overhead
▪ will depend on placement policy
▪ First-fit, next-fit or best-fit
⬛ Not used in practice for malloc/free because of linear
time allocation
▪ used in many special purpose applications
⬛ However, the concepts of splitting and boundary tag
coalescing are general to all allocators
Bryant and O’Hallaron, Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective, Third Edition 59