Tamas Rudnai wrote:
> BTW: I think what Olin is trying to express is that a dynamic memory
> allocator needs an overhead plus some trouble with the memory
> fragmentation so overall it is not the best choice for a small device.

Yes, and usually small embedded systems run fixed problems where there isn't
a need to dynamically allocate memory.  Asking for dynamic memory allocation
is a warning that the system wasn't architected with the small system
mindset.  There's usually a way around dynamic memory if you think about the
problem differently.

Another drawback of dynamic memory on a small system is how to guarantee you
won't run out.  If you don't know how much memory you need up front, then
how do you know you don't need more than there is available under the right
set of input conditions.  And if you do use malloc or the like, what are you
going to do when it fails?  Punting back to the operating system with a
non-zero exit status doesn't work here.


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