[Python-Dev] PyMem_MALLOC vs PyMem_Malloc (original) (raw)

M.-A. Lemburg mal at egenix.com
Sat Oct 30 19:32:43 CEST 2010

M.-A. Lemburg wrote:

Hirokazu Yamamoto wrote:

Hello. I found several codes using PyMemFree to free allocated memory with PyMemMALLOC (ie: PyUnicodeAsWideCharString)

Is it safe? Within the interpreter: yes. In extensions: depends on the platform, but probably not. The macros provide faster access to the C lib malloc calls. The functions need to be used in extensions in case the interpreter will free the resource or the extension wants to free an interpreter allocated resource. They provide access to the malloc calls used by the interpreter, which may operate on a different heap than the extensions. Within an extension the macros use the extension heap. A subtle, but important difference.

BTW: If you were referring to extensions using PyMem_Free() to deallocate memory allocated in the interpreter using PyMem_MALLOC(), then that's exactly how things should be done.

I was referring to use of the two mentioned APIs within an extension.

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