What is the Difference Between calloc and malloc?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚The main differences between calloc
and malloc
are as follows:
- Memory initialization:
malloc
does not initialize the allocated memory, leaving it with garbage values, whilecalloc
initializes the memory to zero. - Number of arguments:
malloc
takes one argument (the size of the memory block) andcalloc
takes two arguments (the number of blocks and the size of each block). - Speed:
malloc
is generally faster thancalloc
due to the additional initialization step incalloc
. - Time efficiency:
malloc
has higher time efficiency compared tocalloc
.
In summary, malloc
is used for allocating dynamic memory without initializing it, while calloc
is used for allocating and initializing memory to zero. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements of the programming task at hand. If the memory needs to be initialized to zero, calloc
should be used. If the memory will be initialized immediately after allocation, malloc
might be more efficient.
Comparative Table: calloc vs malloc
Here is a table comparing the differences between calloc
and malloc
:
Feature | calloc() | malloc() |
---|---|---|
Memory Block | Assigns multiple blocks of memory for a variable. | Creates a single block of memory of the specified size. |
Initialization Value | Initializes the memory block to zero. | Does not initialize the memory block, contains garbage value. |
Number of Arguments | Takes 2 arguments: number of blocks and size of each block. | Takes 1 argument: size of the memory block. |
Speed | Slower than malloc. | Faster than calloc. |
Time Efficiency | Less time efficient than malloc. | More time efficient than calloc. |
Return Value | Returns the starting address and makes it zero before allocating the address. | Returns only the starting address and does not make it zero. |
In summary, calloc
is used to allocate multiple blocks of memory and initialize them to zero, while malloc
is used to allocate a single block of memory without initializing it. calloc
is generally slower and less time efficient than malloc
.
- Static vs Dynamic Memory Allocation
- Integer vs Pointer
- C vs C++
- Physical vs Virtual Memory
- Static RAM vs Dynamic RAM
- Pointer vs Array
- Stack vs Heap
- Matlab vs C Language
- Cache Memory vs Virtual Memory
- Pointer vs Reference
- C vs Objective C
- Declaration vs Definition in C
- Java vs C++
- Function Prototype vs Function Definition in C
- Arrays vs Linked Lists
- C vs Embedded C
- Constructor vs Destructor
- Zero vs Null
- RAM vs Cache Memory