LinkedList - How to free the memory allocated using malloc

Question

I have a very simple C code for constructing a Singly Linked list as below, in which I allocate memory for each node dynamically using malloc. At the end of code, I want to free the memory for each node allocated, was wondering how to go about it - If I start from head node first and free it, the pointers to the subsequent nodes are lost and memory leak happens.

Other way is start from head node and keep storing the node pointer in a separate array of pointers or something, traverse the list till the tail pointer while storing the node pointers, and once reach the tail node, store that also to the other array of pointers and start freeing from that array index backwards until the head node is free'ed.

Is that the only way to achieve what I am trying to do?

In case if I dont want to use second buffer, how do I go about it.

#include "stdio.h"
#include "stdlib.h"

struct lnk_lst 
{
   int val;
   struct lnk_lst * next;
};

typedef struct lnk_lst item;


main()
{
   item * curr, * head;
   int i,desired_value;

   head = NULL;

   for(i=1;i<=10;i++) 
   {
      curr = (item *)malloc(sizeof(item));
      curr->val = i;
      curr->next  = head;
      head = curr;
   }

   curr = head;


   while(curr) {
      printf("%d\n", curr->val);
      curr = curr->next;
   }

  //How to free the memory for the nodes in this list?
   for(i=1;i<=10;i++)
   {
       free()//?? What logic here
   }


}

Answer 1

The usual way is with (pseudo-code first):

node = head              # start at the head.
while node != null:      # traverse entire list.
    temp = node          # save node pointer.
    node = node.next     # advance to next.
    free temp            # free the saved one.
head = null              # finally, mark as empty list.

The basic idea is to remember the node to free in a separate variable then advance to the next before freeing it.

You only need to remember one node at a time, not the entire list as you propose.

In terms of what you need to add to your code, you can, during deletion, use head as the continuously updating list head (as it's meant to be) and curr to store the item you're currently deleting:

while ((curr = head) != NULL) { // set curr to head, stop if list empty.
    head = head->next;          // advance head to next element.
    free (curr);                // delete saved pointer.
}

This is a little shorter than the pseudo-code above simply because it takes advantage of C "shorthand" for some operations.

Answer 2

I use something like this:

for (p = curr; NULL != p; p = next) {
    next = p->next;
    free(p);
}

Answer 3

Your free code should be as follows:

lnk_lst temp = null;
while(head) 
{
  temp = head->next;
  free(head);
  head = temp;
}

Also I would like to add after your malloc you probably want to check whether the mem was allocated successfully.. something like

if(curr)

Answer 4

You traverse the list using the same logic as above. You save the curr->next pointer somewhere, free the curr struct and assign curr with the saved curr->next pointer

Answer 5

Content of Garbage Collector.h

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#define Stack struct _stack
#define _MALLOC_S(type,num) (type *)_GC_malloc(sizeof(type)*num)
#pragma pack(1)

//Structure for adressing alocated memory into.

Stack {

    int *adress_i;
    char *adress_c;
    float *adress_f;
    double *adress_d;
    Stack *next;
};

//Safe malloc

void *_GC_malloc(size_t size)
{
    void* ptr = malloc(size);
    if(ptr == NULL)
        return _GC_malloc(size);
    else
        return ptr;
}

//Push new element on Stack after every malloc

void Add_New(int *i, float *f , double *d , char *c , Stack *p)
{
    Stack *q =  _MALLOC_S(Stack,1);

        q->adress_i = i;
        q->adress_f = f;
        q->adress_c = c;
        q->adress_d = d;

        q->next = p->next;
        p->next = q;
        q = NULL;
}

//before ending program remove adresses that was allocated in memory, and pop entire Stack

void Free_All(Stack *p)
{
    //free head (dummy element)
    Stack *Temp = p->next;
    Stack *_free = p;
    free(_free);

    void *oslobodi;

    while(Temp != NULL)
    {
        _free = Temp;
        Temp = _free->next;

        if(_free->adress_i != NULL){
            oslobodi = _free->adress_i;
            free((int *)oslobodi);
        }
        else if(_free->adress_c != NULL){
            oslobodi = _free->adress_c;
            free((char *)oslobodi);
        }
        else if(_free->adress_f != NULL){
            oslobodi = _free->adress_f;
            free((float *)oslobodi);
        }
        else{
            oslobodi = _free->adress_d;
            free((double *)oslobodi);
        }

        free(_free);
    }

    _free = p = Temp;
}

/*  
    declare variable (var) and dinamicly alocate memory with simple macro, 
    and add to stack of linked list
*/

#define obj_int(var)        int *var = _MALLOC_S(int,1);        *var = 0;   Add_New(var, NULL, NULL, NULL, Head); 
#define obj_char(var)       char *var = _MALLOC_S(char,1);  *var = 0;   Add_New(NULL, NULL, NULL, var, Head);
#define obj_float(var)      float *var = _MALLOC_S(float,1);    *var = 0;   Add_New(NULL, var, NULL, NULL, Head);
#define obj_double(var)     double *var = _MALLOC_S(double,1);  *var = 0;   Add_New(NULL, NULL, var, NULL, Head);
#define obj_struct(_type,_name) struct _type _*name = (struct _type *)malloc(sizeof(struct _type));

#define _INIT_ROW(var,num)  for(int i = 0; i < num; i++) var[i] = 0;

/*
    same, but for row!

*/

#define row_int(var, num)   int *var =  _MALLOC_S(int,num);     _INIT_ROW(var,num)  Add_New(var, NULL, NULL, NULL, Head); 
#define row_char(var, num)  char *var =  _MALLOC_S(char,num);       _INIT_ROW(var,num)  Add_New(NULL, NULL, NULL, var, Head);
#define row_float(var, num) float *var =  _MALLOC_S(float,num);     _INIT_ROW(var,num)  Add_New(NULL, var, NULL, NULL, Head);
#define row_double(var, num)    double *var =  _MALLOC_S(double,num);   _INIT_ROW(var,num)  Add_New(NULL, NULL, var, NULL, Head);
#define string(var, value)  row_char(var, (strlen(value)+1)) strcpy(var, value);

/* with this you create a Stack and allocate dummy element */

#define Main(_type) _type main(void) { Stack *Head = _MALLOC_S(Stack,1); Head->next = NULL; Stack *_q_struct;

/* with this macro you call function for dealocate memory (garbage collecting)*/

#define End         Free_All(Head); }

/*same thing for the other functions*/

#define Function(name_function, _type, ...) _type name_function(##__VA_ARGS__) { Stack *Head = _MALLOC_S(Stack,1); Head->next = NULL;
#define End_Ret(ret_var)            Free_All(Head); return (ret_var); }
#define Call(name_function, ...)        name_function(##__VA_ARGS__)

#define Define_Function(name_function, _type, ...) _type name_function(##__VA_ARGS__);

Example of some_program.c PS header systemIO is group of more headers like this above: :)

Main(void)          

     int num_elements = 10;

     row_int(row_elements, num_elements); //alocating row_elements object

     for(int i = 0; i < num_elements; i++)
          row_elements[i] = i; //initializing row_elements

End //Garbage delete row_elements and end of program

// row_int[0] = 0, row_int[1] = 1 ....