CCareaga/heap_allocator
Heap Allocator
This project is a C-based heap management library designed for systems programming environments that require manual control over memory lifecycles. It provides the fundamental utilities necessary to initialize a designated region of memory and perform dynamic allocation and deallocation of memory blocks.
The library utilizes a linked-list-based tracking system to manage memory segments, employing a first-fit strategy to locate available space within the heap. To maintain memory organization and minimize fragmentation, it implements boundary-tag coalescing, which automatically merges adjacent free blocks during the reclamation process.
These capabilities support low-level memory management in resource-constrained settings, such as bare-metal systems, embedded devices, and custom kernel development. The implementation relies on direct pointer arithmetic to calculate offsets and manage metadata headers within the heap structure.
Features
- Managed Memory Allocators - Provides a C-based library for dynamic memory allocation and deallocation in systems programming environments.
- Manual Deallocation Routines - Reclaims unused memory blocks and performs boundary-tag coalescing to maintain contiguous free space.
- System Memory Allocation - Reserves specific memory amounts from the managed heap and returns pointers for application use.
- Heap Chunk Identification - Implements a heap management library that tracks memory blocks and merges free chunks to reduce fragmentation.
- Memory Allocation Managers - Manages memory segments by maintaining a chain of metadata headers that track the size and availability of each heap region.
- Free Block Search Strategies - Uses a first-fit search strategy to efficiently locate available memory segments within the heap.
- Bare-Metal Runtimes - Provides structured heap management for bare-metal environments lacking an operating system.
- Embedded Memory Management - Optimizes memory management for resource-constrained embedded systems where standard library allocators are unavailable.
- Segregated Heap Allocators - Initializes designated memory regions into structured heaps to enable efficient resource management.
- Low-Level Systems Programming - Enables low-level systems programming by providing manual control over memory layout and allocation performance.
- Manual Memory Management Utilities - Offers a compact utility for manual memory lifecycle management and direct heap control.
- Operating System Development - Supports low-level memory management requirements for custom kernel and operating system development.
- Heap Initialization Routines - Configures a pre-allocated memory region into a managed heap structure by initializing the starting header.
- Boundary Tag Coalescers - Implements boundary-tag coalescing to merge adjacent free memory blocks and minimize heap fragmentation.
- Pointer Arithmetic - Performs direct byte-level pointer arithmetic to calculate offsets and manage metadata headers within the heap.
