Will malloc implementations return free-ed memory back to the system?
I have a long-living application with frequent memory allocation-deallocation. Will any malloc implementation return freed memory back to the system? What is, in this respect, the behavior of: ptmalloc 1, 2 (glibc default) or 3 dlmalloc tcmalloc (google threaded malloc) solaris 10-11 default malloc and mtmalloc FreeBSD 8 default malloc (jemalloc) Hoard malloc? Update If I have an application whose memory consumption can be very different in daytime and nighttime (e.g.), can I force any of malloc's to return freed memory to the system? Without such return freed memory will be swapped out and in