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NT Heap free list split mechanics
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ElonButNotMusk
0
Reputation points
I am trying to develop my own Heap for an IoT platform, which is supposed to be an equivalent to the NT heap of Windows for my Masters degree.
Does the allocator do anything special when it comes to chunk split from free-lists? In which cases the allocator would rather allocate the whole chunk from the free-list rather than splitting it into two separate chunks? Are there any edge cases I should consider when trying to implement?
I've tried to search for answers online but couldn't find any valuable answers to this question :(
Windows development | Windows API - Win32
{count} votes
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Viorel 122.6K Reputation points2025-03-19T12:21:09.98+00:00 I think that software allocator never splits (through, internally the continuous block of allocated memory could be probably distributed by Operating System to different areas of memory circuits).
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ElonButNotMusk 0 Reputation points
2025-03-20T09:12:21.7733333+00:00 In case where the chunk in the free-list is larger or equal we allocate from the free-list. In most cases where the chunk is larger we split it into the size we need and a reminder which serves as a new chunk in the free-list.
In which cases the allocator don't split it?
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Jeanine Zhang-MSFT 11,356 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff2025-03-24T03:18:15.86+00:00 Here is winapi forum. Designed to deal with the issues related to win32 application development.
According to your description, the issue is related to how to develop the Heap and the split mechanics of the allocator. It is out of Winapi forum support scope.
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