C-library Function: calloc()

Description

The C library function void *calloc(size_t nitems, size_t size) allocates the requested memory and returns a pointer to it. The difference in malloc andcalloc is that malloc does not set the memory to zero where as calloc sets allocated memory to zero.

Declaration

Following is the declaration for calloc() function.

void *calloc(size_t nitems, size_t size)

Parameters

nitems -- This is the number of elements to be allocated.

size -- This is the size of elements.

Return Value

This function returns a pointer to the allocated memory, or NULL if the request fails.

Example

The following example shows the usage of calloc() function.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
int i, n; int *a;
printf("Number of elements to be entered:");
scanf("%d",&n);
a = (int*)calloc(n, sizeof(int)); printf("Enter %d numbers:\n",n);
for( i=0 ; i < n ; i++ )
{
scanf("%d",&a[i]);
}
printf("The numbers entered are: "); for( i=0 ; i < n ; i++ )
{
printf("%d ",a[i]); } free( a ); return(0);
}

Let us compile and run the above program that will produce the following result:

Number of elements to be entered:3 Enter 3 numbers: 22 55 14 The numbers entered are: 22 55 14