Allocating A Large (5000+) Array

Question

I am working on an application were there are three possible sizes for the data entered:

• small: 1000 elements
• medium= 5000 elements
• large= 50

Answer 1

You can allocate such a big array on the heap:

int *arr;
arr = malloc (sizeof(int) * 500000);

Don't forget to check that allocation succeded (if not - malloc returns NULL).

And as pmg mentioned - since this array is not located in the stack, you have to free it once you finished working with it.

Answer 2

Your stack can't hold that much data. You have to allocate big arrays on the heap as follows:

int *array = malloc (sizeof(int)*size);

As pmg pointed out remember to free your memory once your done.

free(array);

Answer 3

It's too big for the stack. Instead you need to allocate it on the heap with malloc.