Struct memory deallocation in C

[xefix]

Hey, everyone

I am writing a program in C that uses structs in a linked list to store some data. Each node I make contains both data and pointers to more data (strings, other structs, and the next/prev pointers that I use to maintain the linked lists). When I want to delete such a node, is it enough to simply say free(nodeptr)? Will this also free the memory from all the pointers in the node?

[Bachstelze]

When I want to delete such a node, is it enough to simply say free(nodeptr)? Will this also free the memory from all the pointers in the node?

No, you have to free() them as well. Just make a helper function like


void free_node(node* p)
{
free(p->somepointer);
free(p->otherpointer);
free(p);
}

[nvteighen]

Hey, everyone

I am writing a program in C that uses structs in a linked list to store some data. Each node I make contains both data and pointers to more data (strings, other structs, and the next/prev pointers that I use to maintain the linked lists). When I want to delete such a node, is it enough to simply say free(nodeptr)? Will this also free the memory from all the pointers in the node?

Rule of thumb: For each malloc(), you need a corresponding free().

So yes: free() won't traverse the list, though you could easily write one that does.

[xefix]

Thanks for the responses!