What is the best way to free memory after returning from an error?

Question

Suppose I have a function that allocates memory for the caller:

int func(void **mem1, void **mem2) {
    *mem1 = malloc(SIZE);
    if (!*mem1) return 1;

            


        

Answer 1

This is where a goto is appropriate, in my opinion. I used to follow the anti-goto dogma, but I changed that when it was pointed out to me that do { ... } while (0); compiles to the same code, but isn't as easy to read. Just follow the some basic rules, like not going backwards with them, keeping them to a minimum, only using them for error conditions, etc...

int func(void **mem1, void **mem2)
{
    *mem1 = NULL;
    *mem2 = NULL;

    *mem1 = malloc(SIZE);
    if(!*mem1)
        goto err;

    *mem2 = malloc(SIZE);
    if(!*mem2)
        goto err;

    return 0;
err:
    if(*mem1)
        free(*mem1);
    if(*mem2)
        free(*mem2);

    *mem1 = *mem2 = NULL;

    return 1;
}