blob: 538819e4b0be098ffafddf977609718fbd3ac08e [file] [edit]
/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2018-2025, Microsoft Research, Daan Leijen
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
terms of the MIT license. A copy of the license can be found in the file
"LICENSE" at the root of this distribution.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
#error "documentation file only!"
/*! \mainpage
This is the API documentation of the
[mimalloc](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc) allocator
(pronounced "me-malloc") -- a
general purpose allocator with excellent [performance](bench.html)
characteristics. Initially
developed by Daan Leijen for the run-time systems of the
[Koka](https://github.com/koka-lang/koka) and [Lean](https://github.com/leanprover/lean) languages.
It is a drop-in replacement for `malloc` and can be used in other programs
without code changes, for example, on Unix you can use it as:
```
> LD_PRELOAD=/usr/bin/libmimalloc.so myprogram
```
Notable aspects of the design include:
- __small and consistent__: the core library is about 10k LOC using simple and
consistent data structures. This makes it very suitable
to integrate and adapt in other projects. For runtime systems it
provides hooks for a monotonic _heartbeat_ and deferred freeing (for
bounded worst-case times with reference counting).
Partly due to its simplicity, mimalloc has been ported to many systems (Windows, macOS,
Linux, WASM, various BSD's, Haiku, MUSL, etc) and has excellent support for dynamic overriding.
At the same time, it is an industrial strength allocator that runs (very) large scale
distributed services on thousands of machines with excellent worst case latencies.
- __free list sharding__: instead of one big free list (per size class) we have
many smaller lists per "mimalloc page" which reduces fragmentation and
increases locality --
things that are allocated close in time get allocated close in memory.
(A mimalloc page contains blocks of one size class and is usually 64KiB on a 64-bit system).
- __free list multi-sharding__: the big idea! Not only do we shard the free list
per mimalloc page, but for each page we have multiple free lists. In particular, there
is one list for thread-local `free` operations, and another one for concurrent `free`
operations. Free-ing from another thread can now be a single CAS without needing
sophisticated coordination between threads. Since there will be
thousands of separate free lists, contention is naturally distributed over the heap,
and the chance of contending on a single location will be low -- this is quite
similar to randomized algorithms like skip lists where adding
a random oracle removes the need for a more complex algorithm.
- __eager page purging__: when a "page" becomes empty (with increased chance
due to free list sharding) the memory is marked to the OS as unused (reset or decommitted)
reducing (real) memory pressure and fragmentation, especially in long running
programs.
- __secure__: _mimalloc_ can be built in secure mode, adding guard pages,
randomized allocation, encrypted free lists, etc. to protect against various
heap vulnerabilities. The performance penalty is usually around 10% on average
over our benchmarks.
- __first-class heaps__: efficiently create and use multiple heaps to allocate across different regions.
A heap can be destroyed at once instead of deallocating each object separately.
v3.2+ has true first-class heaps where one can allocate in a heap from any thread.
- __bounded__: it does not suffer from _blowup_ \[1\], has bounded worst-case allocation
times (_wcat_) (upto OS primitives), bounded space overhead (~0.2% meta-data, with low
internal fragmentation), and has no internal points of contention using only atomic operations.
- __fast__: In our benchmarks (see [below](#bench)),
_mimalloc_ outperforms other leading allocators (_jemalloc_, _tcmalloc_, _Hoard_, etc),
and often uses less memory. A nice property is that it does consistently well over a wide range
of benchmarks. There is also good huge OS page support for larger server programs.
There are three maintained versions of mimalloc. All versions are mostly equal except for
how the OS memory is handled. New development is mostly on v3, while v1 and v2 are maintained
with security and bug fixes.
- __v1__: initial design of mimalloc (release tags: `v1.9.x`, development branch `dev`). Send PR's against this version if possible.
- __v2__: main mimalloc version. Uses thread-local segments to reduce fragmentation. (release tags: `v2.2.x`, development branch `dev2`)
- __v3__: simplifies the lock-free design of previous versions, and improves sharing of
memory between threads. On certain large workloads this version may use
(much) less memory. Also supports true first-class heaps (that can allocate from any thread)
and has more efficient heap-walking (for the CPython GC for example).
(release tags: `v3.2.x`, development branch `dev3`).
You can read more on the design of mimalloc in the
[technical report](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/mimalloc-free-list-sharding-in-action)
which also has detailed benchmark results.
To learn more about the internal implementation of mimalloc, see [include/mimalloc/types.h](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/blob/master/include/mimalloc/types.h).
Further information:
- \ref build
- \ref using
- \ref environment
- \ref overrides
- \ref modes
- \ref tools
- \ref bench
 
- \ref malloc
- \ref aligned
- \ref typed
- \ref zeroinit
- \ref heap
- \ref analysis
- \ref arenas
- \ref subproc
- \ref extended
- \ref options
- \ref theap
- \ref posix
- \ref cpp
*/
/// \defgroup malloc Basic Allocation
/// The basic allocation interface.
/// \{
/// Free previously allocated memory.
/// The pointer `p` must have been allocated before (or be \a NULL).
/// @param p pointer to free, or \a NULL.
void mi_free(void* p);
/// Allocate \a size bytes.
/// @param size number of bytes to allocate.
/// @returns pointer to the allocated memory or \a NULL if out of memory.
/// Returns a unique pointer if called with \a size 0.
void* mi_malloc(size_t size);
/// Allocate zero-initialized `size` bytes.
/// @param size The size in bytes.
/// @returns Pointer to newly allocated zero initialized memory,
/// or \a NULL if out of memory.
void* mi_zalloc(size_t size);
/// Allocate zero-initialized \a count elements of \a size bytes.
/// @param count number of elements.
/// @param size size of each element.
/// @returns pointer to the allocated memory
/// of \a size*\a count bytes, or \a NULL if either out of memory
/// or when `count*size` overflows.
///
/// Returns a unique pointer if called with either \a size or \a count of 0.
/// @see mi_zalloc()
void* mi_calloc(size_t count, size_t size);
/// Re-allocate memory to \a newsize bytes.
/// @param p pointer to previously allocated memory (or \a NULL).
/// @param newsize the new required size in bytes.
/// @returns pointer to the re-allocated memory
/// of \a newsize bytes, or \a NULL if out of memory.
/// If \a NULL is returned, the pointer \a p is not freed.
/// Otherwise the original pointer is either freed or returned
/// as the reallocated result (in case it fits in-place with the
/// new size). If the pointer \a p is \a NULL, it behaves as
/// \a mi_malloc(\a newsize). If \a newsize is larger than the
/// original \a size allocated for \a p, the bytes after \a size
/// are uninitialized.
/// @see mi_reallocf()
void* mi_realloc(void* p, size_t newsize);
/// Try to re-allocate memory to \a newsize bytes _in place_.
/// @param p pointer to previously allocated memory (or \a NULL).
/// @param newsize the new required size in bytes.
/// @returns pointer to the re-allocated memory
/// of \a newsize bytes (always equal to \a p),
/// or \a NULL if either out of memory or if
/// the memory could not be expanded in place.
/// If \a NULL is returned, the pointer \a p is not freed.
/// Otherwise the original pointer is returned
/// as the reallocated result since it fits in-place with the
/// new size. If \a newsize is larger than the
/// original \a size allocated for \a p, the bytes after \a size
/// are uninitialized.
void* mi_expand(void* p, size_t newsize);
/// Allocate \a count elements of \a size bytes.
/// @param count The number of elements.
/// @param size The size of each element.
/// @returns A pointer to a block of \a count * \a size bytes, or \a NULL
/// if out of memory or if \a count * \a size overflows.
///
/// If there is no overflow, it behaves exactly like `mi_malloc(count*size)`.
/// @see mi_calloc()
/// @see mi_zallocn()
void* mi_mallocn(size_t count, size_t size);
/// Re-allocate memory to \a count elements of \a size bytes.
/// @param p Pointer to a previously allocated block (or \a NULL).
/// @param count The number of elements.
/// @param size The size of each element.
/// @returns A pointer to a re-allocated block of \a count * \a size bytes, or \a NULL
/// if out of memory or if \a count * \a size overflows.
///
/// If there is no overflow, it behaves exactly like `mi_realloc(p,count*size)`.
/// @see [reallocarray()](<http://man.openbsd.org/reallocarray>) (on BSD)
void* mi_reallocn(void* p, size_t count, size_t size);
/// Re-allocate memory to \a newsize bytes,
/// @param p pointer to previously allocated memory (or \a NULL).
/// @param newsize the new required size in bytes.
/// @returns pointer to the re-allocated memory
/// of \a newsize bytes, or \a NULL if out of memory.
///
/// In contrast to mi_realloc(), if \a NULL is returned, the original pointer
/// \a p is freed (if it was not \a NULL itself).
/// Otherwise the original pointer is either freed or returned
/// as the reallocated result (in case it fits in-place with the
/// new size). If the pointer \a p is \a NULL, it behaves as
/// \a mi_malloc(\a newsize). If \a newsize is larger than the
/// original \a size allocated for \a p, the bytes after \a size
/// are uninitialized.
///
/// @see [reallocf](https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=reallocf) (on BSD)
void* mi_reallocf(void* p, size_t newsize);
/// Allocate and duplicate a string.
/// @param s string to duplicate (or \a NULL).
/// @returns a pointer to newly allocated memory initialized
/// to string \a s, or \a NULL if either out of memory or if
/// \a s is \a NULL.
///
/// Replacement for the standard [strdup()](http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/strdup.html)
/// such that mi_free() can be used on the returned result.
char* mi_strdup(const char* s);
/// Allocate and duplicate a string up to \a n bytes.
/// @param s string to duplicate (or \a NULL).
/// @param n maximum number of bytes to copy (excluding the terminating zero).
/// @returns a pointer to newly allocated memory initialized
/// to string \a s up to the first \a n bytes (and always zero terminated),
/// or \a NULL if either out of memory or if \a s is \a NULL.
///
/// Replacement for the standard [strndup()](http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/strndup.html)
/// such that mi_free() can be used on the returned result.
char* mi_strndup(const char* s, size_t n);
/// Resolve a file path name.
/// @param fname File name.
/// @param resolved_name Should be \a NULL (but can also point to a buffer
/// of at least \a PATH_MAX bytes).
/// @returns If successful a pointer to the resolved absolute file name, or
/// \a NULL on failure (with \a errno set to the error code).
///
/// If \a resolved_name was \a NULL, the returned result should be freed with
/// mi_free().
///
/// Replacement for the standard [realpath()](http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/functions/realpath.html)
/// such that mi_free() can be used on the returned result (if \a resolved_name was \a NULL).
char* mi_realpath(const char* fname, char* resolved_name);
/// Return the available bytes in a memory block.
/// @param p Pointer to previously allocated memory (or \a NULL)
/// @returns Returns the available bytes in the memory block, or
/// 0 if \a p was \a NULL.
///
/// The returned size can be
/// used to call \a mi_expand successfully.
/// The returned size is always at least equal to the
/// allocated size of \a p.
///
/// @see [_msize](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/c-runtime-library/reference/msize?view=vs-2017) (Windows)
/// @see [malloc_usable_size](http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/malloc_usable_size.3.html) (Linux)
/// @see mi_good_size()
size_t mi_usable_size(void* p);
/// Return the probable allocation block size for a given required size.
/// @param size The minimal required size in bytes.
/// @returns the size `n` that will be allocated, where `n >= size`.
///
/// Generally, `mi_usable_size(mi_malloc(size)) == mi_good_size(size)`.
/// This function can be used to reduce internal wasted space when
/// allocating buffers for example.
///
/// @see mi_usable_size()
size_t mi_good_size(size_t size);
/// \}
// ------------------------------------------------------
// Aligned allocation
// ------------------------------------------------------
/// \defgroup aligned Aligned Allocation
/// Allocating aligned memory blocks.
///
/// Note that `alignment` always follows `size` for consistency with the unaligned
/// allocation API, but unfortunately this differs from `posix_memalign` and `aligned_alloc` in the C library.
///
/// \{
/// Allocate \a size bytes aligned by \a alignment.
/// @param size number of bytes to allocate.
/// @param alignment the minimal alignment of the allocated memory.
/// @returns pointer to the allocated memory or \a NULL if out of memory,
/// or if the alignment is not a power of 2 (including 0). The \a size is unrestricted
/// (and does not have to be an integral multiple of the \a alignment).
/// The returned pointer is aligned by \a alignment, i.e. `(uintptr_t)p % alignment == 0`.
/// Returns a unique pointer if called with \a size 0.
///
/// Note that `alignment` always follows `size` for consistency with the unaligned
/// allocation API, but unfortunately this differs from `posix_memalign` and `aligned_alloc` in the C library.
///
/// @see [aligned_alloc](https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/memory/aligned_alloc) (in the standard C11 library, with switched arguments!)
/// @see [_aligned_malloc](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/c-runtime-library/reference/aligned-malloc?view=vs-2017) (on Windows)
/// @see [aligned_alloc](http://man.openbsd.org/reallocarray) (on BSD, with switched arguments!)
/// @see [posix_memalign](https://linux.die.net/man/3/posix_memalign) (on Posix, with switched arguments!)
/// @see [memalign](https://linux.die.net/man/3/posix_memalign) (on Linux, with switched arguments!)
void* mi_malloc_aligned(size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_zalloc_aligned(size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_calloc_aligned(size_t count, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_realloc_aligned(void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment);
/// Allocate \a size bytes aligned by \a alignment at a specified \a offset.
/// @param size number of bytes to allocate.
/// @param alignment the minimal alignment of the allocated memory at \a offset.
/// @param offset the offset that should be aligned.
/// @returns pointer to the allocated memory or \a NULL if out of memory,
/// or if the alignment is not a power of 2 (including 0). The \a size is unrestricted
/// (and does not have to be an integral multiple of the \a alignment).
/// The returned pointer is aligned by \a alignment, i.e. `(uintptr_t)p % alignment == 0`.
/// Returns a unique pointer if called with \a size 0.
///
/// @see [_aligned_offset_malloc](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/c-runtime-library/reference/aligned-offset-malloc?view=vs-2017) (on Windows)
void* mi_malloc_aligned_at(size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_zalloc_aligned_at(size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_calloc_aligned_at(size_t count, size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_realloc_aligned_at(void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
/// \}
/// \defgroup typed Typed Macros
/// Typed allocation macros.
/// For example:
/// ```
/// int* p = mi_malloc_tp(int)
/// ```
///
/// \{
/// Allocate a block of type \a tp.
/// @param tp The type of the block to allocate.
/// @returns A pointer to an object of type \a tp, or
/// \a NULL if out of memory.
///
/// **Example:**
/// ```
/// int* p = mi_malloc_tp(int)
/// ```
///
/// @see mi_malloc()
#define mi_malloc_tp(tp) ((tp*)mi_malloc(sizeof(tp)))
/// Allocate a zero-initialized block of type \a tp.
#define mi_zalloc_tp(tp) ((tp*)mi_zalloc(sizeof(tp)))
/// Allocate \a count zero-initialized blocks of type \a tp.
#define mi_calloc_tp(tp,count) ((tp*)mi_calloc(count,sizeof(tp)))
/// Allocate \a count blocks of type \a tp.
#define mi_mallocn_tp(tp,count) ((tp*)mi_mallocn(count,sizeof(tp)))
/// Re-allocate to \a count blocks of type \a tp.
#define mi_reallocn_tp(p,tp,count) ((tp*)mi_reallocn(p,count,sizeof(tp)))
/// Allocate a block of type \a tp in a heap \a hp.
#define mi_heap_malloc_tp(tp,hp) ((tp*)mi_heap_malloc(hp,sizeof(tp)))
/// Allocate a zero-initialized block of type \a tp in a heap \a hp.
#define mi_heap_zalloc_tp(tp,hp) ((tp*)mi_heap_zalloc(hp,sizeof(tp)))
/// Allocate \a count zero-initialized blocks of type \a tp in a heap \a hp.
#define mi_heap_calloc_tp(tp,hp,count) ((tp*)mi_heap_calloc(hp,count,sizeof(tp)))
/// Allocate \a count blocks of type \a tp in a heap \a hp.
#define mi_heap_mallocn_tp(tp,hp,count) ((tp*)mi_heap_mallocn(hp,count,sizeof(tp)))
/// Re-allocate to \a count blocks of type \a tp in a heap \a hp.
#define mi_heap_reallocn_tp(tp,hp,p,count) ((tp*)mi_heap_reallocn(p,count,sizeof(tp)))
/// Re-allocate to \a count zero initialized blocks of type \a tp in a heap \a hp.
#define mi_heap_recalloc_tp(tp,hp,p,count) ((tp*)mi_heap_recalloc(p,count,sizeof(tp)))
/// \}
/// \defgroup zeroinit Zero initialized re-allocation
/// Re-allocation of zero initialized blocks.
///
/// __The zero-initialized re-allocations are only valid on memory that was
/// originally allocated with zero initialization too,__
/// e.g. `mi_calloc`, `mi_zalloc`, `mi_zalloc_aligned` etc.
/// see also <https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/issues/63#issuecomment-508272992>
///
/// \{
/// Re-allocate memory to \a count elements of \a size bytes, with extra memory initialized to zero.
/// @param p Pointer to a previously allocated block (or \a NULL).
/// @param count The number of elements.
/// @param size The size of each element.
/// @returns A pointer to a re-allocated block of \a count * \a size bytes, or \a NULL
/// if out of memory or if \a count * \a size overflows.
///
/// If there is no overflow, it behaves exactly like `mi_rezalloc(p,count*size)`.
/// @see mi_reallocn()
/// @see [recallocarray()](http://man.openbsd.org/reallocarray) (on BSD).
void* mi_recalloc(void* p, size_t count, size_t size);
void* mi_rezalloc(void* p, size_t newsize);
void* mi_recalloc(void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size) ;
void* mi_rezalloc_aligned(void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment);
void* mi_rezalloc_aligned_at(void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_recalloc_aligned(void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_recalloc_aligned_at(void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_heap_rezalloc(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newsize);
void* mi_heap_recalloc(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size);
void* mi_heap_rezalloc_aligned(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment);
void* mi_heap_rezalloc_aligned_at(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_heap_recalloc_aligned(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_heap_recalloc_aligned_at(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
/// \}
/// \defgroup heap Heaps
/// First-class heaps.
/// Heaps allow allocations to be grouped, and for example be
/// destroyed in one go. Heaps can also be associated with
/// a specific allocation arena (`mi_heap_new_in_arena()`).
///
/// __v1__,__v2__: heaps are only semi-first-class and
/// __one can only use heap allocation functions from the thread that created the heap__.
/// (of course, mi_free() can always be used from any thread to free objects from any heap).
///
/// __v3__: heaps are fully first-class and can be used to allocate efficiently from
/// from any thread.
/// In v3, the old v1/v2 heaps still exist but are now called _theaps_ (mi_theap_t()) for
/// thread-local heaps. A v3 heap creates internally such theaps on demand
/// to efficiently allocate without needing taking locks for example.
///
/// \{
/// Type of first-class heaps.
///
/// __v1__,__v2__: in mimalloc v1 and v2,
/// a heap can only be used for allocation in
/// the thread that created this heap!
struct mi_heap_s;
/// Type of first-class heaps.
///
/// __v1__,__v2__: in mimalloc v1 and v2,
/// a heap can only be used for allocation in
/// the thread that created this heap!
typedef struct mi_heap_s mi_heap_t;
/// Create a new heap that can be used for allocation.
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_new();
/// Delete a previously allocated heap.
/// This will release internal resources but not free
/// still allocated blocks in this heap (and should be
/// `mi_free`'d later on as usual).
///
/// Note: trying to delete the main heap of a subprocess is ignored.
void mi_heap_delete(mi_heap_t* heap);
/// Destroy a heap, freeing all its still allocated blocks.
/// Use with care as this will free all blocks still
/// allocated in the heap. However, this can be an
/// efficient way to free all heap memory in one go.
///
/// Note: trying to destroy the main heap of a subprocess is ignored.
void mi_heap_destroy(mi_heap_t* heap);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Set the default heap to use in the current thread for mi_malloc() et al.
/// @param heap The new default heap.
/// @returns The previous default heap.
/// @see mi_theap_set_default() for __v3__
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_set_default(mi_heap_t* heap);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Get the default heap that is used for mi_malloc() et al. (for the current thread).
/// @returns The current default heap.
/// @see mi_theap_get_default() for __v3__
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_get_default();
/// __v1__,__v2__: Get the backing heap.
/// The _backing_ heap is the initial default heap for
/// a thread and always available for allocations.
/// It cannot be destroyed or deleted
/// except by exiting the thread.
/// @see mi_heap_main() for __v3__
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_get_backing();
/// @brief __v3__: set NUMA affinity for a heap.
/// @param heap the heap which should be associated with a specific numa node.
/// @param numa_node the numa node to associate to (`>=0`)
void mi_heap_set_numa_affinity(mi_heap_t* heap, int numa_node);
/// @brief __v3__: the main heap (of the current sub-process)
/// @return a pointer to the main heap
/// Every (sub)process has a main heap that cannot be deleted
/// or destroyed until (sub)process exit. If other heaps are
/// deleted their live objects are migrated to the main heap.
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_main(void);
/// @brief __v3__: return the heap that contains the given pointer.
/// @param p Any pointer -- not required to be previously allocated by mimalloc.
/// @return the heap that contains the given pointer, or `NULL` if
/// the pointer does not point into mimalloc allocated memory.
/// This is a constant time efficient function.
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_of(const void* p);
/// @brief __v3__: does a heap contain a specific pointer?
/// @param heap The heap to query.
/// @param p Any pointer -- not required to be previously allocated by mimalloc.
/// This is a constant time efficient function.
bool mi_heap_contains(const mi_heap_t* heap, const void* p);
/// @brief __v3__: is a pointer pointing into mimalloc managed memory?
/// @param p Any pointer -- not required to be previously allocated by mimalloc.
/// This is a constant time efficient function.
bool mi_any_heap_contains(const void* p);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Is a pointer part of our heap?
/// @param p The pointer to check.
/// @returns \a true if this is a pointer into our heap.
/// This function is relatively fast.
/// @see mi_any_heap_contains() for __v3__.
bool mi_is_in_heap_region(const void* p);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Check if any pointer is part of the default heap of this thread.
/// @param p Any pointer -- not required to be previously allocated by us.
/// @returns \a true if \a p points to a block in default heap of this thread.
/// Note: expensive function, linear in the pages in the heap.
/// @see mi_any_heap_contains() for __v3__
bool mi_check_owned(const void* p);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Does a heap contain a pointer to a previously allocated block?
/// @param heap The heap.
/// @param p Pointer to a previously allocated block (in any heap)-- cannot be some
/// random pointer!
/// @returns \a true if the block pointed to by \a p is in the \a heap.
/// @see mi_heap_owned(), mi_heap_contains() for __v3__
bool mi_heap_contains_block(mi_heap_t* heap, const void* p);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Check safely if any pointer is part of a heap.
/// @param heap The heap.
/// @param p Any pointer -- not required to be previously allocated by us.
/// @returns \a true if \a p points to a block in \a heap.
/// Note: expensive function, linear in the pages in the heap.
/// @see mi_heap_contains_block(), mi_heap_contains() for __v3__
bool mi_heap_check_owned(mi_heap_t* heap, const void* p);
/// Release outstanding resources in a specific heap.
void mi_heap_collect(mi_heap_t* heap, bool force);
/// Allocate in a specific heap.
/// @see mi_malloc()
void* mi_heap_malloc(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size);
/// Allocate a small object in a specific heap.
/// \a size must be smaller or equal to MI_SMALL_SIZE_MAX().
/// @see mi_malloc_small()
void* mi_heap_malloc_small(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size);
/// Allocate zero-initialized in a specific heap.
/// @see mi_zalloc()
void* mi_heap_zalloc(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size);
/// Allocate a small object in a specific heap.
/// \a size must be smaller or equal to MI_SMALL_SIZE_MAX().
/// @see mi_zalloc_small()
void* mi_heap_zalloc_small(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size);
/// Allocate \a count zero-initialized elements in a specific heap.
/// @see mi_calloc()
void* mi_heap_calloc(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t count, size_t size);
/// Allocate \a count elements in a specific heap.
/// @see mi_mallocn()
void* mi_heap_mallocn(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t count, size_t size);
/// Duplicate a string in a specific heap.
/// @see mi_strdup()
char* mi_heap_strdup(mi_heap_t* heap, const char* s);
/// Duplicate a string of at most length \a n in a specific heap.
/// @see mi_strndup()
char* mi_heap_strndup(mi_heap_t* heap, const char* s, size_t n);
/// Resolve a file path name using a specific \a heap to allocate the result.
/// @see mi_realpath()
char* mi_heap_realpath(mi_heap_t* heap, const char* fname, char* resolved_name);
void* mi_heap_realloc(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newsize);
void* mi_heap_reallocn(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t count, size_t size);
void* mi_heap_reallocf(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newsize);
void* mi_heap_malloc_aligned(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_heap_malloc_aligned_at(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_heap_zalloc_aligned(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_heap_zalloc_aligned_at(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_heap_calloc_aligned(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t count, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_heap_calloc_aligned_at(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t count, size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void* mi_heap_realloc_aligned(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment);
void* mi_heap_realloc_aligned_at(mi_heap_t* heap, void* p, size_t newsize, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
/// \}
/// \defgroup analysis Heap Introspection
/// Walk areas and blocks of the heap at runtime.
///
/// \{
/// An area of heap space contains blocks of a single size.
/// The bytes in freed blocks are `committed - used`.
typedef struct mi_heap_area_s {
void* blocks; ///< start of the area containing heap blocks
size_t reserved; ///< bytes reserved for this area
size_t committed; ///< current committed bytes of this area
size_t used; ///< bytes in use by allocated blocks
size_t block_size; ///< size in bytes of one block
size_t full_block_size; ///< size in bytes of a full block including padding and metadata.
int heap_tag; ///< heap tag associated with this area (see \a mi_heap_new_ex)
} mi_heap_area_t;
/// Visitor function passed to mi_heap_visit_blocks()
/// @returns \a true if ok, \a false to stop visiting (i.e. break)
///
/// This function is always first called for every \a area
/// with \a block as a \a NULL pointer. If \a visit_all_blocks
/// was \a true, the function is then called for every allocated
/// block in that area.
typedef bool (mi_block_visit_fun)(const mi_heap_t* heap, const mi_heap_area_t* area, void* block, size_t block_size, void* arg);
/// Visit all areas and blocks in a heap.
/// @param heap The heap to visit.
/// @param visit_blocks If \a true visits all allocated blocks, otherwise
/// \a visitor is only called for every heap area.
/// @param visitor This function is called for every area in the heap
/// (with \a block as \a NULL). If \a visit_all_blocks is
/// \a true, \a visitor is also called for every allocated
/// block in every area (with `block!=NULL`).
/// return \a false from this function to stop visiting early.
/// @param arg Extra argument passed to \a visitor.
/// @returns \a true if all areas and blocks were visited.
///
/// Note: requires the option mi_option_visit_abandoned() to be set
/// at the start of the program to visit all abandoned blocks as well.
bool mi_heap_visit_blocks(const mi_heap_t* heap, bool visit_blocks, mi_block_visit_fun* visitor, void* arg);
/// @brief __v1__,__v2__: Visit all areas and blocks in abandoned heaps.
/// @param subproc_id The sub-process id associated with the abandoned heaps.
/// @param heap_tag Visit only abandoned memory with the specified heap tag, use -1 to visit all abandoned memory.
/// @param visit_blocks If \a true visits all allocated blocks, otherwise
/// \a visitor is only called for every heap area.
/// @param visitor This function is called for every area in the heap
/// (with \a block as \a NULL). If \a visit_all_blocks is
/// \a true, \a visitor is also called for every allocated
/// block in every area (with `block!=NULL`).
/// return \a false from this function to stop visiting early.
/// @param arg extra argument passed to the \a visitor.
/// @return \a true if all areas and blocks were visited.
///
/// Note: requires the option mi_option_visit_abandoned() to be set
/// at the start of the program.
bool mi_abandoned_visit_blocks(mi_subproc_id_t subproc_id, int heap_tag, bool visit_blocks, mi_block_visit_fun* visitor, void* arg);
/// \}
// ------------------------------------------------------
// Arenas
// ------------------------------------------------------
/// \defgroup arenas Arenas
/// Arenas are large memory areas (usually 1GiB+) from which mimalloc allocates memory.
/// The arenas are usually allocated on-demand from the OS but can be reserved explicitly.
/// It is also possible to give previously allocated memory to mimalloc to manage.
/// Heaps can be associated with a specific arena to only allocate memory from that arena.
///
/// \{
/// Each arena has an associated identifier.
typedef int mi_arena_id_t;
/// Reserve OS memory for use by mimalloc. Reserved areas are used
/// before allocating from the OS again. By reserving a large area upfront,
/// allocation can be more efficient, and can be better managed on systems
/// without `mmap`/`VirtualAlloc` (like WASM for example).
/// @param size The size to reserve.
/// @param commit Commit the memory upfront.
/// @param allow_large Allow large OS pages (2MiB) to be used?
/// @return \a 0 if successful, and an error code otherwise (e.g. `ENOMEM`).
int mi_reserve_os_memory(size_t size, bool commit, bool allow_large);
/// @brief Reserve OS memory to be managed in an arena.
/// @param size Size the reserve.
/// @param commit Should the memory be initially committed?
/// @param allow_large Allow the use of large OS pages?
/// @param exclusive Is the returned arena exclusive?
/// @param arena_id The new arena identifier.
/// @return Zero on success, an error code otherwise.
int mi_reserve_os_memory_ex(size_t size, bool commit, bool allow_large, bool exclusive, mi_arena_id_t* arena_id);
/// Reserve \a pages of huge OS pages (1GiB) evenly divided over \a numa_nodes nodes,
/// but stops after at most `timeout_msecs` seconds.
/// @param pages The number of 1GiB pages to reserve.
/// @param numa_nodes The number of nodes do evenly divide the pages over, or 0 for using the actual number of NUMA nodes.
/// @param timeout_msecs Maximum number of milli-seconds to try reserving, or 0 for no timeout.
/// @returns 0 if successful, \a ENOMEM if running out of memory, or \a ETIMEDOUT if timed out.
///
/// The reserved memory is used by mimalloc to satisfy allocations.
/// May quit before \a timeout_msecs are expired if it estimates it will take more than
/// 1.5 times \a timeout_msecs. The time limit is needed because on some operating systems
/// it can take a long time to reserve contiguous memory if the physical memory is
/// fragmented.
int mi_reserve_huge_os_pages_interleave(size_t pages, size_t numa_nodes, size_t timeout_msecs);
/// Reserve \a pages of huge OS pages (1GiB) at a specific \a numa_node,
/// but stops after at most `timeout_msecs` seconds.
/// @param pages The number of 1GiB pages to reserve.
/// @param numa_node The NUMA node where the memory is reserved (start at 0). Use -1 for no affinity.
/// @param timeout_msecs Maximum number of milli-seconds to try reserving, or 0 for no timeout.
/// @returns 0 if successful, \a ENOMEM if running out of memory, or \a ETIMEDOUT if timed out.
///
/// The reserved memory is used by mimalloc to satisfy allocations.
/// May quit before \a timeout_msecs are expired if it estimates it will take more than
/// 1.5 times \a timeout_msecs. The time limit is needed because on some operating systems
/// it can take a long time to reserve contiguous memory if the physical memory is
/// fragmented.
int mi_reserve_huge_os_pages_at(size_t pages, int numa_node, size_t timeout_msecs);
/// @brief Reserve huge OS pages (1GiB) into a single arena.
/// @param pages Number of 1GiB pages to reserve.
/// @param numa_node The associated NUMA node, or -1 for no NUMA preference.
/// @param timeout_msecs Max amount of milli-seconds this operation is allowed to take. (0 is infinite)
/// @param exclusive If exclusive, only a heap associated with this arena can allocate in it.
/// @param arena_id The arena identifier.
/// @return 0 if successful, \a ENOMEM if running out of memory, or \a ETIMEDOUT if timed out.
int mi_reserve_huge_os_pages_at_ex(size_t pages, int numa_node, size_t timeout_msecs, bool exclusive, mi_arena_id_t* arena_id);
/// @brief Return the minimal alignment required for managed OS memory.
/// @see mi_manage_os_memory(), mi_manage_os_memory_ex()
size_t mi_arena_min_alignment(void);
/// Manage a particular memory area for use by mimalloc.
/// This is just like `mi_reserve_os_memory` except that the area should already be
/// allocated in some manner and available for use my mimalloc.
/// @param start Start of the memory area
/// @param size The size of the memory area.
/// @param is_committed Is the area already committed?
/// @param is_large Does it consist of large OS pages? Set this to \a true as well for memory
/// that should not be decommitted or protected (like rdma etc.)
/// @param is_zero Does the area consists of zero's?
/// @param numa_node Possible associated numa node or `-1`.
/// @return \a true if successful, and \a false on error.
bool mi_manage_os_memory(void* start, size_t size, bool is_committed, bool is_large, bool is_zero, int numa_node);
/// @brief Manage externally allocated memory as a mimalloc arena. This memory will not be freed by mimalloc.
/// @param start Start address of the area.
/// @param size Size in bytes of the area.
/// @param is_committed Is the memory already committed?
/// @param is_large Does it consist of (pinned) large OS pages?
/// @param is_zero Is the memory zero-initialized?
/// @param numa_node Associated NUMA node, or -1 to have no NUMA preference.
/// @param exclusive Is the arena exclusive (where only heaps associated with the arena can allocate in it)
/// @param arena_id The new arena identifier.
/// @return `true` if successful.
bool mi_manage_os_memory_ex(void* start, size_t size, bool is_committed, bool is_large, bool is_zero, int numa_node, bool exclusive, mi_arena_id_t* arena_id);
/// @brief Show all current arena's.
void mi_debug_show_arenas(void);
/// @brief Return the start and size of an arena.
/// @param arena_id The arena identifier.
/// @param size Returned size in bytes of the (virtual) arena area.
/// @return base address of the arena.
void* mi_arena_area(mi_arena_id_t arena_id, size_t* size);
/// @brief Create a new heap that only allocates in the specified arena.
/// @param arena_id The arena identifier.
/// @return The new heap or `NULL`.
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_new_in_arena(mi_arena_id_t arena_id);
/// @brief __v1__,__v2__: Create a new heap.
/// @param heap_tag The heap tag associated with this heap; heaps only reclaim memory between heaps with the same tag.
/// @param allow_destroy Is \a mi_heap_destroy allowed? Not allowing this allows the heap to reclaim memory from terminated threads.
/// @param arena_id If not 0, the heap will only allocate from the specified arena.
/// @return A new heap or `NULL` on failure.
///
/// The \a arena_id can be used by runtimes to allocate only in a specified pre-reserved arena.
/// This is used for example for a compressed pointer heap in Koka.
/// The \a heap_tag enables heaps to keep objects of a certain type isolated to heaps with that tag.
/// This is used for example in the CPython integration.
/// @see mi_heap_new_in_arena() for __v3__
mi_heap_t* mi_heap_new_ex(int heap_tag, bool allow_destroy, mi_arena_id_t arena_id);
/// \}
/// \defgroup subproc Subprocesses
/// A sub-process contains its own arena's and heaps that are fully separate from the main (sub) process.
///
/// A thread can belong to only one subprocess at a time.
/// This can be used to separate out logically separate parts
/// of a program (like running multiple interpreter instances in CPython).
///
/// \{
/// A process can associate threads with sub-processes.
/// Sub-processes are isolated and will not reclaim or visit memory
/// from other sub-processes.
/// Each subprocess always has an associated main heap.
typedef void* mi_subproc_id_t;
/// @brief Get the main sub-process identifier.
mi_subproc_id_t mi_subproc_main(void);
/// @brief Get the current sub-process identifier of this thread.
mi_subproc_id_t mi_subproc_current(void);
/// @brief Create a fresh sub-process (with no associated threads yet).
/// @return The new sub-process identifier.
mi_subproc_id_t mi_subproc_new(void);
/// @brief __v3__: Destroy a previously created sub-process.
/// @param subproc The sub-process identifier.
/// Only destroy sub-processes if all associated threads have terminated.
void mi_subproc_destroy(mi_subproc_id_t subproc);
/// @brief __v1__,__v2__: Delete a previously created sub-process.
/// @param subproc The sub-process identifier.
/// Only delete sub-processes if all associated threads have terminated.
/// @see mi_subproc_destroy()
void mi_subproc_delete(mi_subproc_id_t subproc);
/// @brief Add the current thread to the given sub-process.
/// This should be called right after a thread is created
/// (and no allocation has taken place yet).
void mi_subproc_add_current_thread(mi_subproc_id_t subproc);
/// @brief The type of a heap visitor function.
/// @return Return `true` to keep visiting. Returning `false` will
/// stop visiting further heaps.
typedef bool (mi_heap_visit_fun)(mi_heap_t* heap, void* arg);
/// @brief Visit all heaps belonging to a subprocess.
/// @param subproc The subprocess that the heaps should belong to
/// @param visitor The visitor function is called with each heap in `subproc`
/// @param arg A user argument that is passed to each visitor function call.
/// Return `true` if all heaps are visited (and false otherwise).
bool mi_subproc_visit_heaps(mi_subproc_id_t subproc, mi_heap_visit_fun* visitor, void* arg);
/// \}
// ------------------------------------------------------
// Extended functionality
// ------------------------------------------------------
/// \defgroup extended Extended Functions
/// Internal functionality.
///
/// \{
/// Maximum size allowed for small allocations in
/// #mi_malloc_small, #mi_zalloc_small, #mi_heap_malloc_small, #mi_heap_zalloc_small,
/// #mi_theap_malloc_small, and #mi_theap_zalloc_small (usually `128*sizeof(void*)` (= 1KB on 64-bit systems))
#define MI_SMALL_SIZE_MAX (128*sizeof(void*))
/// @brief Return the mimalloc version.
/// @return The version. For v1,v2 the version is 100*major + 10*minor + patch (for example 227 for v2.2.7).
/// For __v3__, it is 1000*major + 100*minor + path (for example, 3207 for v3.2.7).
int mi_version(void);
/// Eagerly free memory.
/// @param force If \a true, aggressively return memory to the OS (can be expensive!)
///
/// Regular code should not have to call this function. It can be beneficial
/// in very narrow circumstances; in particular, when a long running thread
/// allocates a lot of blocks that are freed by other threads it may improve
/// resource usage by calling this every once in a while.
void mi_collect(bool force);
/// __v3__: Communicate that a thread is in a threadpool.
/// This is done automatically for threads in the Windows threadpool,
/// but if using a custom threadpool it is good to call this on worker threads.
/// Internally, mimalloc uses different locality heuristics for worker threads
/// to try to reduce non-local accesss.
void mi_thread_set_in_threadpool(void);
/// Is the C runtime \a malloc API redirected?
/// @returns \a true if all malloc API calls are redirected to mimalloc.
///
/// Currently only used on Windows.
bool mi_is_redirected();
/// Initialize mimalloc on a thread.
/// Should not be used as on most systems (pthreads, windows) this is done
/// automatically.
void mi_thread_init(void);
/// Uninitialize mimalloc on a thread.
/// Should not be used as on most systems (pthreads, windows) this is done
/// automatically. Ensures that any memory that is not freed yet (but will
/// be freed by other threads in the future) is properly handled.
void mi_thread_done(void);
/// Type of deferred free functions.
/// @param force If \a true all outstanding items should be freed.
/// @param heartbeat A monotonically increasing count.
/// @param arg Argument that was passed at registration to hold extra state.
///
/// @see mi_register_deferred_free
typedef void (mi_deferred_free_fun)(bool force, unsigned long long heartbeat, void* arg);
/// Register a deferred free function.
/// @param deferred_free Address of a deferred free-ing function or \a NULL to unregister.
/// @param arg Argument that will be passed on to the deferred free function.
///
/// Some runtime systems use deferred free-ing, for example when using
/// reference counting to limit the worst case free time.
/// Such systems can register (re-entrant) deferred free function
/// to free more memory on demand. When the \a force parameter is
/// \a true all possible memory should be freed.
/// The per-thread \a heartbeat parameter is monotonically increasing
/// and guaranteed to be deterministic if the program allocates
/// deterministically. The \a deferred_free function is guaranteed
/// to be called deterministically after some number of allocations
/// (regardless of freeing or available free memory).
/// At most one \a deferred_free function can be active.
void mi_register_deferred_free(mi_deferred_free_fun* deferred_free, void* arg);
/// Type of output functions.
/// @param msg Message to output.
/// @param arg Argument that was passed at registration to hold extra state.
///
/// @see mi_register_output()
typedef void (mi_output_fun)(const char* msg, void* arg);
/// Register an output function.
/// @param out The output function, use `NULL` to output to stderr.
/// @param arg Argument that will be passed on to the output function.
///
/// The `out` function is called to output any information from mimalloc,
/// like verbose or warning messages.
void mi_register_output(mi_output_fun* out, void* arg);
/// Type of error callback functions.
/// @param err Error code (see mi_register_error() for a complete list).
/// @param arg Argument that was passed at registration to hold extra state.
///
/// @see mi_register_error()
typedef void (mi_error_fun)(int err, void* arg);
/// Register an error callback function.
/// @param errfun The error function that is called on an error (use \a NULL for default)
/// @param arg Extra argument that will be passed on to the error function.
///
/// The \a errfun function is called on an error in mimalloc after emitting
/// an error message (through the output function). It as always legal to just
/// return from the \a errfun function in which case allocation functions generally
/// return \a NULL or ignore the condition. The default function only calls abort()
/// when compiled in secure mode with an \a EFAULT error. The possible error
/// codes are:
/// * \a EAGAIN: Double free was detected (only in debug and secure mode).
/// * \a EFAULT: Corrupted free list or meta-data was detected (only in debug and secure mode).
/// * \a ENOMEM: Not enough memory available to satisfy the request.
/// * \a EOVERFLOW: Too large a request, for example in mi_calloc(), the \a count and \a size parameters are too large.
/// * \a EINVAL: Trying to free or re-allocate an invalid pointer.
void mi_register_error(mi_error_fun* errfun, void* arg);
/// Allocate a small object.
/// @param size The size in bytes, can be at most #MI_SMALL_SIZE_MAX.
/// @returns a pointer to newly allocated memory of at least \a size
/// bytes, or \a NULL if out of memory.
/// This function is meant for use in run-time systems for best
/// performance and does not check if \a size was indeed small -- use
/// with care!
void* mi_malloc_small(size_t size);
/// Allocate a zero initialized small object.
/// @param size The size in bytes, can be at most #MI_SMALL_SIZE_MAX.
/// @returns a pointer to newly allocated zero-initialized memory of at
/// least \a size bytes, or \a NULL if out of memory.
/// This function is meant for use in run-time systems for best
/// performance and does not check if \a size was indeed small -- use
/// with care!
void* mi_zalloc_small(size_t size);
/// __v3__: Can be used to free an object that was allocated with #mi_malloc_small et al.
/// @param p Pointer that was returned from #mi_malloc_small et al.
/// @details
/// This function is meant for use in run-time systems for best
/// performance and does not check if the pointer was _indeed_ allocated
/// with #mi_malloc_small (et al) -- use with care!
/// This function has a small perf benefit but only if mimalloc was built with `MI_FAST_FREE_SMALL=1`
/// @see mi_malloc_small()
/// @see mi_zalloc_small()
/// @see mi_heap_malloc_small()
/// @see mi_heap_zalloc_small()
/// @see mi_theap_malloc_small()
/// @see mi_theap_zalloc_small()
void mi_free_small(void* p);
/// \}
// ------------------------------------------------------
// Statistics
// ------------------------------------------------------
/// \defgroup stats Statistics
/// Print out allocation statistics.
/// \{
/// Statistics version. Increased on each backward incompatible change.
#define MI_STAT_VERSION 4
/// Helper to declare a properly initialized mi_stats_t() local variable as \a name
/// where the \a size and \a version fields are properly initialized.
/// For example:
/// ```
/// mi_stats_t_decl(stats);
/// if (mi_stats_get(&stats)) {
/// ...
/// }
/// ```
#define mi_stats_t_decl(name)
/// Statistics. See [include/mimalloc-stats.h](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/blob/main/include/mimalloc-stats.h) for the full definition.
struct mi_stats_s {
/// initialize with `sizeof(mi_stats_t)` (so linking dynamically with a separately compiled mimalloc is safe)
size_t size;
/// initialize with `MI_STAT_VERSION (so linking dynamically with a separately compiled mimalloc is safe)
size_t version;
};
/// Statistics. See [include/mimalloc-stats.h](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/blob/main/include/mimalloc-stats.h) for the full definition.
typedef struct mi_stats_s mi_stats_t;
/// @brief Print out all process info.
/// @see mi_process_info()
void mi_process_info_print(void);
/// @brief Print out all process info.
/// @param out An output function or \a NULL for the default.
/// @param arg Optional argument passed to \a out (if not \a NULL)
/// @see mi_process_print()
void mi_process_info_print_out(mi_output_fun* out, void* arg);
/// Return process information (time and memory usage).
/// @param elapsed_msecs Optional. Elapsed wall-clock time of the process in milli-seconds.
/// @param user_msecs Optional. User time in milli-seconds (as the sum over all threads).
/// @param system_msecs Optional. System time in milli-seconds.
/// @param current_rss Optional. Current working set size (touched pages).
/// @param peak_rss Optional. Peak working set size (touched pages).
/// @param current_commit Optional. Current committed memory (backed by the page file).
/// @param peak_commit Optional. Peak committed memory (backed by the page file).
/// @param page_faults Optional. Count of hard page faults.
///
/// The \a current_rss is precise on Windows and MacOSX; other systems estimate
/// this using \a current_commit. The \a commit is precise on Windows but estimated
/// on other systems as the amount of read/write accessible memory reserved by mimalloc.
void mi_process_info(size_t* elapsed_msecs, size_t* user_msecs, size_t* system_msecs, size_t* current_rss, size_t* peak_rss, size_t* current_commit, size_t* peak_commit, size_t* page_faults);
/// Deprecated
/// @param out Ignored, outputs to the registered output function or stderr by default.
///
/// Most detailed when using a debug build.
void mi_stats_print(void* out);
/// Print statistics of the current subprocess aggregated over all its heaps.
/// @param out An output function or \a NULL for the default.
/// @param arg Optional argument passed to \a out (if not \a NULL)
///
/// Most detailed when using a debug build.
void mi_stats_print_out(mi_output_fun* out, void* arg);
/// @brief Get the statistics for the current subprocess aggregated over all its heaps.
/// @param stats Pointer to a mi_stats_t() structure (declared as `mi_stats_t_decl(name)`).
/// @return \a true if \a stats is not \a NULL, and if \a stats->size
/// and \a stats->version match the `sizeof(mi_stats_t)` and `MI_STAT_VERSION`
/// with the linked mimalloc version.
bool mi_stats_get(mi_stats_t* stats);
/// @brief Get the statistics for the current subprocess aggregated over all its heaps as JSON.
/// @param buf_size Byte size of the buffer \a buf (or 0 if \a buf is \a NULL)
/// @param buf The buffer. Pass \a NULL to allocate a fresh buffer.
/// @return Pointer to the buffer or \a NULL on failure.
/// Use mi_free() to free the buffer if the \a buf parameter was \a NULL.
char* mi_stats_get_json(size_t buf_size, char* buf);
/// @brief __v3__: Return the block size for the given bin.
size_t mi_stats_get_bin_size(size_t bin);
/// @brief __v3__: Return statistics for a given heap.
/// @param heap The heap.
/// @param stats Pointer to a mi_stats_t() structure (declared as `mi_stats_t_decl(name)`).
/// @return \a true if \a stats is not \a NULL, and if \a stats->size
/// and \a stats->version match the `sizeof(mi_stats_t)` and `MI_STAT_VERSION`
/// with the linked mimalloc version.
bool mi_heap_stats_get(mi_heap_t* heap, mi_stats_t* stats);
/// @brief __v3__: Get the statistics for a heap as JSON.
/// @param heap The heap.
/// @param buf_size Byte size of the buffer \a buf (or 0 if \a buf is \a NULL).
/// @param buf The buffer. Pass \a NULL to allocate a fresh buffer.
/// @return Pointer to the buffer or \a NULL on failure.
/// Use mi_free() to free the buffer if the \a buf parameter was \a NULL.
char* mi_heap_stats_get_json(mi_heap_t* heap, size_t buf_size, char* buf); // use mi_free to free the result if the input buf == NULL
/// @brief __v3__: Show the heap statistics as JSON.
/// @param heap The heap.
/// @param out An output function or \a NULL for the default.
/// @param arg Optional argument passed to \a out (if not \a NULL)
void mi_heap_stats_print_out(mi_heap_t* heap, mi_output_fun* out, void* arg);
/// @brief __v3__: xplicitly merge the statistics of the current heap with the subprocess.
/// @param heap The heap.
/// After this call, the heap statistics are reset.
void mi_heap_stats_merge_to_subproc(mi_heap_t* heap);
/// @brief __v3__: Get statistics for a given subprocess aggregated over all its heaps.
/// @param subproc_id The subprocess
/// @param stats Pointer to a mi_stats_t() structure (declared as `mi_stats_t_decl(name)`).
/// @return \a true if \a stats is not \a NULL, and if \a stats->size
/// and \a stats->version match the `sizeof(mi_stats_t)` and `MI_STAT_VERSION`
/// with the linked mimalloc version.
bool mi_subproc_stats_get(mi_subproc_id_t subproc_id, mi_stats_t* stats);
/// @brief __v3__: Show the subproc statistics aggregated over all its heaps as JSON.
/// @param subproc_id The subprocess.
/// @param buf_size Byte size of the buffer \a buf (or 0 if \a buf is \a NULL).
/// @param buf The buffer. Pass \a NULL to allocate a fresh buffer.
/// @return Pointer to the buffer or \a NULL on failure.
/// Use mi_free() to free the buffer if the \a buf parameter was \a NULL.
char* mi_subproc_stats_get_json(mi_subproc_id_t subproc_id, size_t buf_size, char* buf); // use mi_free to free the result if the input buf == NULL
/// @brief __v3__: Print the subproc statistics aggregated over all its heaps.
/// @param subproc_id The subprocess.
/// @param out An output function or \a NULL for the default.
/// @param arg Optional argument passed to \a out (if not \a NULL)
void mi_subproc_stats_print_out(mi_subproc_id_t subproc_id, mi_output_fun* out, void* arg);
/// @brief __v3__: Print statistics for a given subprocess with each heap separately printed.
/// @param subproc_id The subprocess
/// @param out An output function or \a NULL for the default.
/// @param arg Optional argument passed to \a out (if not \a NULL)
void mi_subproc_heap_stats_print_out(mi_subproc_id_t subproc_id, mi_output_fun* out, void* arg);
/// @brief __v3__: Show the given statistics as JSON.
/// @param stats The statistics.
/// @param buf_size Byte size of the buffer \a buf (or 0 if \a buf is \a NULL).
/// @param buf The buffer. Pass \a NULL to allocate a fresh buffer.
/// @return Pointer to the buffer or \a NULL on failure.
/// Use mi_free() to free the buffer if the \a buf parameter was \a NULL.
char* mi_stats_as_json( mi_stats_t* stats, size_t buf_size, char* buf);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Reset statistics.
void mi_stats_reset(void);
/// __v1__,__v2__: Merge thread local statistics with the main statistics and reset.
void mi_stats_merge(void);
/// \}
// ------------------------------------------------------
// Runtime Options
// ------------------------------------------------------
/// \defgroup options Runtime Options
/// Set runtime parameters.
///
/// \{
/// @brief Print out all runtime parameters for mimalloc.
/// Also printed with `MIMALLOC_VERBOSE=1` at startup.
void mi_options_print(void);
/// @brief Print out all process info.
/// @param out An output function or \a NULL for the default.
/// @param arg Optional argument passed to \a out (if not \a NULL)
/// Also printed with `MIMALLOC_VERBOSE=1` at startup.
/// @see mi_options_print()
void mi_options_print_out(mi_output_fun* out, void* arg);
/// Runtime options.
typedef enum mi_option_e {
// stable options
mi_option_show_errors, ///< Print error messages.
mi_option_show_stats, ///< Print statistics on termination.
mi_option_verbose, ///< Print verbose messages.
mi_option_max_errors, ///< issue at most N error messages
mi_option_max_warnings, ///< issue at most N warning messages
// advanced options
mi_option_reserve_huge_os_pages, ///< reserve N huge OS pages (1GiB pages) at startup
mi_option_reserve_huge_os_pages_at, ///< Reserve N huge OS pages at a specific NUMA node N.
mi_option_reserve_os_memory, ///< reserve specified amount of OS memory in an arena at startup (internally, this value is in KiB; use mi_option_get_size())
mi_option_allow_large_os_pages, ///< allow large (2 or 4 MiB) OS pages, implies eager commit.
mi_option_purge_decommits, ///< should a memory purge decommit? (=1). Set to 0 to use memory reset on a purge (instead of decommit)
mi_option_arena_reserve, ///< initial memory size for arena reservation (= 1 GiB on 64-bit) (internally, this value is in KiB; use mi_option_get_size())
mi_option_os_tag, ///< tag used for OS logging (macOS only for now) (=100)
mi_option_retry_on_oom, ///< retry on out-of-memory for N milli seconds (=400), set to 0 to disable retries. (only on windows)
mi_option_generic_collect, ///< collect heaps every N (=10000) generic allocation calls
mi_option_allow_thp, ///< allow transparent huge pages? (=1) (on Android =0 by default). Set to 0 to disable THP for the process.
// guard pages
mi_option_guarded_min, ///< only used when building with MI_GUARDED: minimal rounded object size for guarded objects (=0)
mi_option_guarded_max, ///< only used when building with MI_GUARDED: maximal rounded object size for guarded objects (=0)
mi_option_guarded_precise, ///< disregard minimal alignment requirement to always place guarded blocks exactly in front of a guard page (=0)
mi_option_guarded_sample_rate, ///< 1 out of N allocations in the min/max range will be guarded (=1000)
mi_option_guarded_sample_seed, ///< can be set to allow for a (more) deterministic re-execution when a guard page is triggered (=0)
// experimental options
mi_option_eager_commit, ///< __v1__,__v2__: eager commit segments? (after `eager_commit_delay` segments) (enabled by default).
mi_option_eager_commit_delay, ///< __v2__: the first N segments per thread are not eagerly committed (but per page in the segment on demand)
mi_option_arena_eager_commit, ///< eager commit arenas? Use 2 to enable just on overcommit systems (=2)
mi_option_abandoned_page_purge, ///< __v1__,__v2__: immediately purge delayed purges on thread termination
mi_option_purge_delay, ///< memory purging is delayed by N milli seconds; use 0 for immediate purging or -1 for no purging at all. (=10)
mi_option_use_numa_nodes, ///< 0 = use all available numa nodes, otherwise use at most N nodes.
mi_option_disallow_os_alloc, ///< 1 = do not use OS memory for allocation (but only programmatically reserved arenas)
mi_option_max_segment_reclaim, ///< __v2__: max. percentage of the abandoned segments can be reclaimed per try (=10%)
mi_option_destroy_on_exit, ///< if set, release all memory on exit; sometimes used for dynamic unloading but can be unsafe
mi_option_arena_purge_mult, ///< multiplier for `purge_delay` for the purging delay for arenas (=10)
mi_option_abandoned_reclaim_on_free, ///< __v1__,__v2__: allow to reclaim an abandoned segment on a free (=1)
mi_option_purge_extend_delay, ///< __v1__,__v2__: extend purge delay on each subsequent delay (=1)
mi_option_disallow_arena_alloc, ///< 1 = do not use arena's for allocation (except if using specific arena id's)
mi_option_visit_abandoned, ///< allow visiting heap blocks from abandoned threads (=0)
mi_option_target_segments_per_thread, ///< __v1__,__v2__: experimental (=0)
// v3 options
mi_option_page_reclaim_on_free, ///< __v3__: reclaim abandoned pages on a free (=0). -1 disallowr always, 0 allows if the page originated from the current theap, 1 allow always
mi_option_page_full_retain, ///< __v3__: retain N full (small) pages per size class (=2). Use -1 for infinite (as in __v1__,__v2__).
mi_option_page_max_candidates, ///< __v3__: max candidate pages to consider for allocation (=4)
mi_option_max_vabits, ///< __v3__: max user space virtual address bits to consider (=48)
mi_option_pagemap_commit, ///< __v3__: commit the full pagemap (to always catch invalid pointer uses) (=0)
mi_option_page_commit_on_demand, ///< __v3__: commit page memory on-demand (=0)
mi_option_page_max_reclaim, ///< __v3__: don't reclaim pages of the same originating theap if we already own N pages (in that size class) (=-1 (unlimited))
mi_option_page_cross_thread_max_reclaim, ///< __v3__: don't reclaim pages across threads if we already own N pages (in that size class) (=16)
mi_option_minimal_purge_size, ///< __v3__: set minimal purge size (in KiB) (=0). By default set to either 64 or 2048 if THP is enabled. (internal value is in KiB so use mi_option_get_size())
mi_option_arena_max_object_size, ///< __v3__: set maximal object size that can be allocated in an arena (in KiB) (=2GiB on 64-bit).
_mi_option_last
} mi_option_t;
bool mi_option_is_enabled(mi_option_t option);
void mi_option_enable(mi_option_t option);
void mi_option_disable(mi_option_t option);
void mi_option_set_enabled(mi_option_t option, bool enable);
void mi_option_set_enabled_default(mi_option_t option, bool enable);
long mi_option_get(mi_option_t option);
long mi_option_get_clamp(mi_option_t option, long min, long max);
size_t mi_option_get_size(mi_option_t option);
void mi_option_set(mi_option_t option, long value);
void mi_option_set_default(mi_option_t option, long value);
/// \}
/// \defgroup theap Thread-local heaps
/// __v3__: Thread local heaps.
///
/// The use of thread-local heaps is discouraged and only recommended
/// for special cases like runtime systems that keep their own thread-local
/// state.
/// The "theaps" are thread-local heaps that __v3__ uses internally
/// to implement efficient first-class heaps.
///
/// __v1__,__v2__: the `mi_heap_t` heaps in v1/v2 are exactly these `mi_theap_t`
/// theaps in v3.
/// \{
/// Type of thread-local heaps.
struct mi_theap_s;
/// Type of thread-local heaps.
typedef struct mi_theap_s mi_theap_t;
/// @brief Return the thread-local theap for the given heap.
/// @param heap The owning heap.
/// @return The theap that serves thread-local allocations for the given `heap`.
/// This can be used by runtime systems to request the thread-local theap
/// once and then use it in its allocation functions (like mi_theap_malloc() or mi_theap_malloc_small() ) to avoid re-looking up
/// the theap at each allocation call.
mi_theap_t* mi_heap_theap(mi_heap_t* heap);
/// Release outstanding resources in a specific theap.
void mi_theap_collect(mi_theap_t* theap, bool force);
/// Set the default thread-local theap to use in the current thread for mi_malloc() et al.
/// @param theap The new default theap.
/// @returns The previous default theap.
/// By default it will point to the theap belonging to the main heap (mi_heap_main()).
mi_theap_t* mi_theap_set_default(mi_theap_t* theap);
/// Get the default theap that is used for mi_malloc() et al. for the current thread.
/// @returns The current default theap.
mi_theap_t* mi_theap_get_default();
/// Allocate in a specific theap.
/// @see mi_malloc()
void* mi_theap_malloc(mi_theap_t* theap, size_t size);
/// Allocate a small object in a specific theap.
/// \a size must be smaller or equal to MI_SMALL_SIZE_MAX().
/// @see mi_malloc_small()
void* mi_theap_malloc_small(mi_theap_t* theap, size_t size);
/// Allocate zero-initialized in a specific heap.
/// @see mi_zalloc()
void* mi_theap_zalloc(mi_theap_t* theap, size_t size);
/// Allocate a small object in a specific theap.
/// \a size must be smaller or equal to MI_SMALL_SIZE_MAX().
/// @see mi_zalloc_small()
void* mi_theap_zalloc_small(mi_theap_t* theap, size_t size);
void* mi_theap_calloc(mi_theap_t* theap, size_t count, size_t size);
void* mi_theap_malloc_aligned(mi_theap_t* theap, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_theap_realloc(mi_theap_t* theap, void* p, size_t newsize);
/// \}
/// \defgroup posix Posix
/// `mi_` prefixed implementations of various Posix, Unix, and C++ allocation functions.
/// Defined for convenience as all redirect to the regular mimalloc API.
///
/// \{
/// Just as `free` but also checks if the pointer `p` belongs to our heap.
void mi_cfree(void* p);
void* mi__expand(void* p, size_t newsize);
size_t mi_malloc_size(const void* p);
size_t mi_malloc_good_size(size_t size);
size_t mi_malloc_usable_size(const void *p);
int mi_posix_memalign(void** p, size_t alignment, size_t size);
int mi__posix_memalign(void** p, size_t alignment, size_t size);
void* mi_memalign(size_t alignment, size_t size);
void* mi_valloc(size_t size);
void* mi_pvalloc(size_t size);
void* mi_aligned_alloc(size_t alignment, size_t size);
unsigned short* mi_wcsdup(const unsigned short* s);
unsigned char* mi_mbsdup(const unsigned char* s);
int mi_dupenv_s(char** buf, size_t* size, const char* name);
int mi_wdupenv_s(unsigned short** buf, size_t* size, const unsigned short* name);
/// Correspond s to [reallocarray](https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=reallocarray&sektion=3&manpath=freebsd-release-ports)
/// in FreeBSD.
void* mi_reallocarray(void* p, size_t count, size_t size);
/// Corresponds to [reallocarr](https://man.netbsd.org/reallocarr.3) in NetBSD.
int mi_reallocarr(void* p, size_t count, size_t size);
void* mi_aligned_recalloc(void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void* mi_aligned_offset_recalloc(void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size, size_t alignment, size_t offset);
void mi_free_size(void* p, size_t size);
void mi_free_size_aligned(void* p, size_t size, size_t alignment);
void mi_free_aligned(void* p, size_t alignment);
/// \}
/// \defgroup cpp C++ wrappers
/// `mi_` prefixed implementations of various C++ allocation functions.
///
/// These use C++ semantics on out-of-memory, generally calling
/// `std::get_new_handler` and raising a `std::bad_alloc` exception on failure.
///
/// Note: use the `mimalloc-new-delete.h` header to override the \a new
/// and \a delete operators globally. The wrappers here are mostly
/// for convenience for library writers that need to interface with
/// mimalloc from C++.
///
/// \{
/// like mi_malloc(), but when out of memory, use `std::get_new_handler` and raise `std::bad_alloc` exception on failure.
void* mi_new(std::size_t n) noexcept(false);
/// like mi_mallocn(), but when out of memory, use `std::get_new_handler` and raise `std::bad_alloc` exception on failure.
void* mi_new_n(size_t count, size_t size) noexcept(false);
/// like mi_malloc_aligned(), but when out of memory, use `std::get_new_handler` and raise `std::bad_alloc` exception on failure.
void* mi_new_aligned(std::size_t n, std::align_val_t alignment) noexcept(false);
/// like `mi_malloc`, but when out of memory, use `std::get_new_handler` but return \a NULL on failure.
void* mi_new_nothrow(size_t n);
/// like `mi_malloc_aligned`, but when out of memory, use `std::get_new_handler` but return \a NULL on failure.
void* mi_new_aligned_nothrow(size_t n, size_t alignment);
/// like mi_realloc(), but when out of memory, use `std::get_new_handler` and raise `std::bad_alloc` exception on failure.
void* mi_new_realloc(void* p, size_t newsize);
/// like mi_reallocn(), but when out of memory, use `std::get_new_handler` and raise `std::bad_alloc` exception on failure.
void* mi_new_reallocn(void* p, size_t newcount, size_t size);
/// \a std::allocator implementation for mimalloc for use in STL containers.
/// For example:
/// ```
/// std::vector<int, mi_stl_allocator<int> > vec;
/// vec.push_back(1);
/// vec.pop_back();
/// ```
template<class T> struct mi_stl_allocator { }
/// \}
/*! \page build Building
Checkout the sources from GitHub:
```
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc
```
## Windows
Open `ide/vs2022/mimalloc.sln` in Visual Studio 2022 and build.
The `mimalloc-lib` project builds a static library (in `out/msvc-x64`), while the
`mimalloc-override-dll` project builds a DLL for overriding malloc
in the entire program.
## Linux, macOS, BSD, etc.
We use [`cmake`](https://cmake.org) as the build system:
```
> mkdir -p out/release
> cd out/release
> cmake ../..
> make
```
This builds the library as a shared (dynamic)
library (`.so` or `.dylib`), a static library (`.a`), and
as a single object file (`.o`).
`> sudo make install` (install the library and header files in `/usr/local/lib` and `/usr/local/include`)
You can build the debug version which does many internal checks and
maintains detailed statistics as:
```
> mkdir -p out/debug
> cd out/debug
> cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ../..
> make
```
This will name the shared library as `libmimalloc-debug.so`.
Finally, you can build a _secure_ version that uses guard pages, encrypted free lists, etc., as:
```
> mkdir -p out/secure
> cd out/secure
> cmake -DMI_SECURE=ON ../..
> make
```
This will name the shared library as `libmimalloc-secure.so`.
Use `cmake ../.. -LH` to see all the available build options.
The examples use the default compiler. If you like to use another, use:
```
> CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake ../..
```
## Cmake with Visual Studio
You can also use cmake on Windows. Open a Visual Studio 2022 development prompt
and invoke `cmake` with the right [generator](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/generator/Visual%20Studio%2017%202022.html)
and architecture, like:
```
> cmake ..\.. -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -DMI_OVERRIDE=ON
```
The cmake build type is specified when actually building, for example:
```
> cmake --build . --config=Release
```
You can also install the [LLVM toolset](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/clang-support-msbuild?view=msvc-170#install-1)
on Windows to build with the `clang-cl` compiler directly:
```
> cmake ../.. -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -T ClangCl
```
## Single Source
You can also directly build the single `src/static.c` file as part of your project without
needing `cmake` at all. Make sure to also add the mimalloc `include` directory to the include path.
*/
/*! \page using Using the Library
### Build
The preferred usage is including `<mimalloc.h>`, linking with
the shared- or static library, and using the `mi_malloc` API exclusively for allocation. For example,
```
gcc -o myprogram -lmimalloc myfile.c
```
mimalloc uses only safe OS calls (`mmap` and `VirtualAlloc`) and can co-exist
with other allocators linked to the same program.
If you use `cmake`, you can simply use:
```
find_package(mimalloc 2.1 REQUIRED)
```
in your `CMakeLists.txt` to find a locally installed mimalloc. Then use either:
```
target_link_libraries(myapp PUBLIC mimalloc)
```
to link with the shared (dynamic) library, or:
```
target_link_libraries(myapp PUBLIC mimalloc-static)
```
to link with the static library. See `test\CMakeLists.txt` for an example.
### C++
For best performance in C++ programs, it is also recommended to override the
global `new` and `delete` operators. For convenience, mimalloc provides
[`mimalloc-new-delete.h`](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/blob/master/include/mimalloc-new-delete.h) which does this for you -- just include it in a single(!) source file in your project.
In C++, mimalloc also provides the `mi_stl_allocator` struct which implements the `std::allocator`
interface. For example:
```
std::vector<some_struct, mi_stl_allocator<some_struct>> vec;
vec.push_back(some_struct());
```
### Statistics
You can pass environment variables to print verbose messages (`MIMALLOC_VERBOSE=1`)
and statistics (`MIMALLOC_SHOW_STATS=1`) (in the debug version):
```
> env MIMALLOC_SHOW_STATS=1 ./cfrac 175451865205073170563711388363
175451865205073170563711388363 = 374456281610909315237213 * 468551
subproc 0
blocks peak total current block total#
bin S 4: 75.3 KiB 55.2 MiB 0 32 B 1.8 M ok
bin S 6: 31.0 KiB 180.4 KiB 0 48 B 3.8 K ok
bin S 8: 64 B 64 B 0 64 B 1 ok
bin S 9: 160 B 160 B 0 80 B 2 ok
bin S 17: 1.2 KiB 1.2 KiB 0 320 B 4 ok
bin S 21: 640 B 3.1 KiB 0 640 B 5 ok
bin S 33: 5.0 KiB 5.0 KiB 0 5.0 KiB 1 ok
binned : 84.2 Ki 41.5 Mi 0 ok
huge : 0 0 0 ok
total : 84.2 KiB 41.5 MiB 0
malloc req: 29.7 MiB
pages peak total current block total#
touched : 152.8 KiB 152.8 KiB 152.8 KiB
pages : 8 14 0 ok
abandoned : 1 249 0 ok
reclaima : 0
reclaimf : 249
reabandon : 0
waits : 0
extended : 38
retire : 35
searches : 0.7 avg
arenas peak total current block total#
reserved : 1.0 GiB 1.0 GiB 1.0 GiB
committed : 4.8 MiB 4.8 MiB 4.4 MiB
reset : 0
purged : 385.5 Ki
arenas : 1
rollback : 0
mmaps : 3
commits : 0
resets : 1
purges : 2
guarded : 0
heaps : 1 1 1
process peak total current block total#
threads : 1 1 1
numa nodes: 1
elapsed : 0.553 s
process : user: 0.557 s, system: 0.013 s, faults: 29, peak rss: 2.1 MiB, peak commit: 4.8 MiB
```
The above model of using the `mi_` prefixed API is not always possible
though in existing programs that already use the standard malloc interface,
and another option is to override the standard malloc interface
completely and redirect all calls to the _mimalloc_ library instead.
See \ref overrides for more info.
*/
/*! \page environment Environment Options
You can set further options either programmatically (using mi_option_set(), see \ref options), or via environment variables:
- `MIMALLOC_SHOW_STATS=1`: show statistics when the program terminates.
- `MIMALLOC_VERBOSE=1`: show verbose messages (including statistics).
- `MIMALLOC_SHOW_ERRORS=1`: show error and warning messages.
Advanced options:
- `MIMALLOC_ARENA_EAGER_COMMIT=2`: turns on eager commit for the large arenas (usually 1GiB) from which mimalloc
allocates segments and pages. Set this to 2 (default) to
only enable this on overcommit systems (e.g. Linux). Set this to 1 to enable explicitly on other systems
as well (like Windows or macOS) which may improve performance (as the whole arena is committed at once).
Note that eager commit only increases the commit but not the actual the peak resident set
(rss) so it is generally ok to enable this.
- `MIMALLOC_PURGE_DELAY=N`: the delay in `N` milli-seconds (by default `1000` in v3) after which mimalloc will purge
OS pages that are not in use. This signals to the OS that the underlying physical memory can be reused which
can reduce memory fragmentation especially in long running (server) programs. Setting `N` to `0` purges immediately when
a page becomes unused which can improve memory usage but also decreases performance.
Setting it to `-1` disables purging completely.
- `MIMALLOC_PURGE_DECOMMITS=1`: By default "purging" memory means unused memory is decommitted (`MEM_DECOMMIT` on Windows,
`MADV_DONTNEED` (which decresease rss immediately) on `mmap` systems). Set this to 0 to instead "reset" unused
memory on a purge (`MEM_RESET` on Windows, generally `MADV_FREE` (which does not decrease rss immediately) on `mmap` systems).
Mimalloc generally does not "free" OS memory but only "purges" OS memory, in other words, it tries to keep virtual
address ranges and decommits within those ranges (to make the underlying physical memory available to other processes).
Further options for large workloads and services:
- `MIMALLOC_ALLOW_THP=1`: By default always allow transparent huge pages (THP) on Linux systems. On Android only this is
by default off. When set to `0`, THP is disabled for the process that mimalloc runs in.
In mimalloc v3.2+, If enabled, mimalloc also sets
the `MIMALLOC_MINIMAL_PURGE_SIZE` to 2MiB to avoid potentially breaking up transparent huge pages.
- `MIMALLOC_USE_NUMA_NODES=N`: pretend there are at most `N` NUMA nodes. If not set, the actual NUMA nodes are detected
at runtime. Setting `N` to 1 may avoid problems in some virtual environments. Also, setting it to a lower number than
the actual NUMA nodes is fine and will only cause threads to potentially allocate more memory across actual NUMA
nodes (but this can happen in any case as NUMA local allocation is always a best effort but not guaranteed).
- `MIMALLOC_ALLOW_LARGE_OS_PAGES=0`: Set to 1 to use large OS pages (2 or 4MiB) when available; for some workloads this can
significantly improve performance. However, large OS pages cannot be purged or shared with other processes so may lead
to increased memory usage in some cases.
Use `MIMALLOC_VERBOSE` to check if the large OS pages are enabled -- usually one needs
to explicitly give permissions for large OS pages (as on [Windows][windows-huge] and [Linux][linux-huge]). However, sometimes
the OS is very slow to reserve contiguous physical memory for large OS pages so use with care on systems that
can have fragmented memory (for that reason, we generally recommend to use `MIMALLOC_RESERVE_HUGE_OS_PAGES` instead whenever possible).
- `MIMALLOC_RESERVE_HUGE_OS_PAGES=N`: where `N` is the number of 1GiB _huge_ OS pages. This reserves the huge pages at
startup and sometimes this can give a large (latency) performance improvement on big workloads.
Usually it is better to not use `MIMALLOC_ALLOW_LARGE_OS_PAGES=1` in combination with this setting. Just like large
OS pages, use with care as reserving
contiguous physical memory can take a long time when memory is fragmented (but reserving the huge pages is done at
startup only once).
Note that we usually need to explicitly give permission for huge OS pages (as on [Windows][windows-huge] and [Linux][linux-huge])).
The huge pages are usually allocated evenly among NUMA nodes.
We can use `MIMALLOC_RESERVE_HUGE_OS_PAGES_AT=N` where `N` is the numa node (starting at 0) to allocate all
the huge pages at a specific numa node instead.
Use caution when using `fork` in combination with either large or huge OS pages: on a fork, the OS uses copy-on-write
for all pages in the original process including the huge OS pages. When any memory is now written in that area, the
OS will copy the entire 1GiB huge page (or 2MiB large page) which can cause the memory usage to grow in large increments.
[linux-huge]: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/5/html/tuning_and_optimizing_red_hat_enterprise_linux_for_oracle_9i_and_10g_databases/sect-oracle_9i_and_10g_tuning_guide-large_memory_optimization_big_pages_and_huge_pages-configuring_huge_pages_in_red_hat_enterprise_linux_4_or_5
[windows-huge]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/configure-windows/enable-the-lock-pages-in-memory-option-windows?view=sql-server-2017
*/
/*! \page overrides Overriding Malloc
Overriding the standard `malloc` (and `new`) can be done either _dynamically_ or _statically_.
## Dynamic override
This is the recommended way to override the standard malloc interface.
### Dynamic Override on Linux, BSD
On these ELF-based systems we preload the mimalloc shared
library so all calls to the standard `malloc` interface are
resolved to the _mimalloc_ library.
```
> env LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libmimalloc.so myprogram
```
You can set extra environment variables to check that mimalloc is running,
like:
```
> env MIMALLOC_VERBOSE=1 LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libmimalloc.so myprogram
```
or run with the debug version to get detailed statistics:
```
> env MIMALLOC_SHOW_STATS=1 LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libmimalloc-debug.so myprogram
```
### Dynamic Override on MacOS
On macOS we can also preload the mimalloc shared
library so all calls to the standard `malloc` interface are
resolved to the _mimalloc_ library.
```
> env DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES=/usr/lib/libmimalloc.dylib myprogram
```
Note that certain security restrictions may apply when doing this from
the [shell](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43941322/dyld-insert-libraries-ignored-when-calling-application-through-bash).
### Dynamic Override on Windows
<span id="override_on_windows">Dynamically overriding on mimalloc on Windows</span>
is robust and has the particular advantage to be able to redirect all malloc/free calls
that go through the (dynamic) C runtime allocator, including those from other DLL's or
libraries. As it intercepts all allocation calls on a low level, it can be used reliably
on large programs that include other 3rd party components.
There are four requirements to make the overriding work well:
1. Use the C-runtime library as a DLL (using the `/MD` or `/MDd` switch).
2. Link your program explicitly with the `mimalloc.lib` export library for the `mimalloc.dll`.
(which must be compiled with `-DMI_OVERRIDE=ON`, which is the default though).
To ensure the `mimalloc.dll` is actually loaded at run-time it is easiest
to insert some call to the mimalloc API in the `main` function, like `mi_version()`
(or use the `/include:mi_version` switch on the linker command, or
similarly, `#pragma comment(linker, "/include:mi_version")` in some source file).
See the `mimalloc-test-override` project for an example on how to use this.
3. The `mimalloc-redirect.dll` must be put in the same directory as the main
`mimalloc.dll` at runtime (as it is a dependency of that DLL).
The redirection DLL ensures that all calls to the C runtime malloc API get
redirected to mimalloc functions (which reside in `mimalloc.dll`).
4. Ensure the `mimalloc.dll` comes as early as possible in the import
list of the final executable (so it can intercept all potential allocations).
You can use `minject -l <exe>` to check this if needed.
For best performance on Windows with C++, it
is also recommended to also override the `new`/`delete` operations (by including
[`mimalloc-new-delete.h`](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/blob/main/include/mimalloc-new-delet.h)
a single(!) source file in your project).
The environment variable `MIMALLOC_DISABLE_REDIRECT=1` can be used to disable dynamic
overriding at run-time. Use `MIMALLOC_VERBOSE=1` to check if mimalloc was successfully
redirected.
For different platforms than x64, you may need a specific [redirection dll](bin).
Furthermore, we cannot always re-link an executable or ensure `mimalloc.dll` comes
first in the import table. In such cases the [`minject`](bin) tool can be used
to patch the executable's import tables.
## Static override
On Unix-like systems, you can also statically link with _mimalloc_ to override the standard
malloc interface. The recommended way is to link the final program with the
_mimalloc_ single object file (`mimalloc.o`). We use
an object file instead of a library file as linkers give preference to
that over archives to resolve symbols. To ensure that the standard
malloc interface resolves to the _mimalloc_ library, link it as the first
object file. For example:
```
> gcc -o myprogram mimalloc.o myfile1.c ...
```
Another way to override statically that works on all platforms, is to
link statically to mimalloc (as shown in the introduction) and include a
header file in each source file that re-defines `malloc` etc. to `mi_malloc`.
This is provided by [`mimalloc-override.h`](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/blob/main/include/mimalloc-override.h). This only works reliably though if all sources are
under your control or otherwise mixing of pointers from different heaps may occur!
## List of Overrides:
The specific functions that get redirected to the _mimalloc_ library are:
```
// C
void* malloc(size_t size);
void* calloc(size_t size, size_t n);
void* realloc(void* p, size_t newsize);
void free(void* p);
void* aligned_alloc(size_t alignment, size_t size);
char* strdup(const char* s);
char* strndup(const char* s, size_t n);
char* realpath(const char* fname, char* resolved_name);
// C++
void operator delete(void* p);
void operator delete[](void* p);
void* operator new(std::size_t n) noexcept(false);
void* operator new[](std::size_t n) noexcept(false);
void* operator new( std::size_t n, std::align_val_t align) noexcept(false);
void* operator new[]( std::size_t n, std::align_val_t align) noexcept(false);
void* operator new ( std::size_t count, const std::nothrow_t& tag);
void* operator new[]( std::size_t count, const std::nothrow_t& tag);
void* operator new ( std::size_t count, std::align_val_t al, const std::nothrow_t&);
void* operator new[]( std::size_t count, std::align_val_t al, const std::nothrow_t&);
// Posix
int posix_memalign(void** p, size_t alignment, size_t size);
// Linux
void* memalign(size_t alignment, size_t size);
void* valloc(size_t size);
void* pvalloc(size_t size);
size_t malloc_usable_size(void *p);
void* reallocf(void* p, size_t newsize);
// macOS
void vfree(void* p);
size_t malloc_size(const void* p);
size_t malloc_good_size(size_t size);
// BSD
void* reallocarray( void* p, size_t count, size_t size );
void* reallocf(void* p, size_t newsize);
void cfree(void* p);
// NetBSD
int reallocarr(void* p, size_t count, size_t size);
// Windows
void* _expand(void* p, size_t newsize);
size_t _msize(void* p);
void* _malloc_dbg(size_t size, int block_type, const char* fname, int line);
void* _realloc_dbg(void* p, size_t newsize, int block_type, const char* fname, int line);
void* _calloc_dbg(size_t count, size_t size, int block_type, const char* fname, int line);
void* _expand_dbg(void* p, size_t size, int block_type, const char* fname, int line);
size_t _msize_dbg(void* p, int block_type);
void _free_dbg(void* p, int block_type);
```
*/
/*! \page modes Build Modes
We can build mimalloc in various modes.
## Secure Mode
_mimalloc_ can be build in secure mode by using the `-DMI_SECURE=ON` flags in `cmake`. This build enables various mitigations
to make mimalloc more robust against exploits. In particular:
- All internal mimalloc pages are surrounded by guard pages and the heap metadata is behind a guard page as well (so a buffer overflow
exploit cannot reach into the metadata).
- All free list pointers are
[encoded](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc/blob/783e3377f79ee82af43a0793910a9f2d01ac7863/include/mimalloc-internal.h#L396)
with per-page keys which is used both to prevent overwrites with a known pointer, as well as to detect heap corruption.
- Double free's are detected (and ignored).
- The free lists are initialized in a random order and allocation randomly chooses between extension and reuse within a page to
mitigate against attacks that rely on a predicable allocation order. Similarly, the larger heap blocks allocated by mimalloc
from the OS are also address randomized.
As always, evaluate with care as part of an overall security strategy as all of the above are mitigations but not guarantees.
## Debug Mode
When _mimalloc_ is built using debug mode, (`-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug`),
various checks are done at runtime to catch development errors.
- Statistics are maintained in detail for each object size. They can be shown using `MIMALLOC_SHOW_STATS=1` at runtime.
- All objects have padding at the end to detect (byte precise) heap block overflows.
- Double free's, and freeing invalid heap pointers are detected.
- Corrupted free-lists and some forms of use-after-free are detected.
## Guarded Mode
<span id="guarded">_mimalloc_ can be build in guarded mode using the `-DMI_GUARDED=ON` flags in `cmake`.</span>
This enables placing OS guard pages behind certain object allocations to catch buffer overflows as they occur.
This can be invaluable to catch buffer-overflow bugs in large programs. However, it also means that any object
allocated with a guard page takes at least 8 KiB memory for the guard page and its alignment. As such, allocating
a guard page for every allocation may be too expensive both in terms of memory, and in terms of performance with
many system calls. Therefore, there are various environment variables (and options) to tune this:
- `MIMALLOC_GUARDED_SAMPLE_RATE=N`: Set the sample rate to `N` (by default 4000). This mode places a guard page
behind every `N` suitable object allocations (per thread). Since the performance in guarded mode without placing
guard pages is close to release mode, this can be used to enable guard pages even in production to catch latent
buffer overflow bugs. Set the sample rate to `1` to guard every object, and to `0` to place no guard pages at all.
- `MIMALLOC_GUARDED_SAMPLE_SEED=N`: Start sampling at `N` (by default random). Can be used to reproduce a buffer
overflow if needed.
- `MIMALLOC_GUARDED_MIN=N`, `MIMALLOC_GUARDED_MAX=N`: Minimal and maximal _rounded_ object sizes for which a guard
page is considered (`0` and `1GiB` respectively). If you suspect a buffer overflow occurs with an object of size
141, set the minimum and maximum to `148` and the sample rate to `1` to have all of those guarded.
- `MIMALLOC_GUARDED_PRECISE=1`: If we have an object of size 13, we would usually place it an aligned 16 bytes in
front of the guard page. Using `MIMALLOC_GUARDED_PRECISE` places it exactly 13 bytes before a page so that even
a 1 byte overflow is detected. This violates the C/C++ minimal alignment guarantees though so use with care.
*/
/*! \page tools Tools
Generally, we recommend using the standard allocator with memory tracking tools, but mimalloc
can also be build to support the [address sanitizer][asan] or the excellent [Valgrind] tool.
Moreover, it can be build to support Windows event tracing ([ETW]).
This has a small performance overhead but does allow detecting memory leaks and byte-precise
buffer overflows directly on final executables. See also the `test/test-wrong.c` file to test with various tools.
## Valgrind
To build with [valgrind] support, use the `MI_TRACK_VALGRIND=ON` cmake option:
```
> cmake ../.. -DMI_TRACK_VALGRIND=ON
```
This can also be combined with secure mode or debug mode.
You can then run your programs directly under valgrind:
```
> valgrind <myprogram>
```
If you rely on overriding `malloc`/`free` by mimalloc (instead of using the `mi_malloc`/`mi_free` API directly),
you also need to tell `valgrind` to not intercept those calls itself, and use:
```
> MIMALLOC_SHOW_STATS=1 valgrind --soname-synonyms=somalloc=*mimalloc* -- <myprogram>
```
By setting the `MIMALLOC_SHOW_STATS` environment variable you can check that mimalloc is indeed
used and not the standard allocator. Even though the [Valgrind option][valgrind-soname]
is called `--soname-synonyms`, this also works when overriding with a static library or object file.
To dynamically override mimalloc using `LD_PRELOAD` together with `valgrind`, use:
```
> valgrind --trace-children=yes --soname-synonyms=somalloc=*mimalloc* /usr/bin/env LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libmimalloc.so -- <myprogram>
```
See also the `test/test-wrong.c` file to test with `valgrind`.
Valgrind support is in its initial development -- please report any issues.
[Valgrind]: https://valgrind.org/
[valgrind-soname]: https://valgrind.org/docs/manual/manual-core.html#opt.soname-synonyms
## ASAN
To build with the address sanitizer, use the `-DMI_TRACK_ASAN=ON` cmake option:
```
> cmake ../.. -DMI_TRACK_ASAN=ON
```
This can also be combined with secure mode or debug mode.
You can then run your programs as:'
```
> ASAN_OPTIONS=verbosity=1 <myprogram>
```
When you link a program with an address sanitizer build of mimalloc, you should
generally compile that program too with the address sanitizer enabled.
For example, assuming you build mimalloc in `out/debug`:
```
clang -g -o test-wrong -Iinclude test/test-wrong.c out/debug/libmimalloc-asan-debug.a -lpthread -fsanitize=address -fsanitize-recover=address
```
Since the address sanitizer redirects the standard allocation functions, on some platforms (macOSX for example)
it is required to compile mimalloc with `-DMI_OVERRIDE=OFF`.
Address sanitizer support is in its initial development -- please report any issues.
[asan]: https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/AddressSanitizer
## ETW
Event tracing for Windows ([ETW]) provides a high performance way to capture all allocations though
mimalloc and analyze them later. To build with ETW support, use the `-DMI_TRACK_ETW=ON` cmake option.
You can then capture an allocation trace using the Windows performance recorder (WPR), using the
`src/prim/windows/etw-mimalloc.wprp` profile. In an admin prompt, you can use:
```
> wpr -start src\prim\windows\etw-mimalloc.wprp -filemode
> <my_mimalloc_program>
> wpr -stop <my_mimalloc_program>.etl
```
and then open `<my_mimalloc_program>.etl` in the Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA), or
use a tool like [TraceControl] that is specialized for analyzing mimalloc traces.
[ETW]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/test/wpt/event-tracing-for-windows
[TraceControl]: https://github.com/xinglonghe/TraceControl
*/
/*! \page bench Performance
We tested _mimalloc_ against many other top allocators over a wide
range of benchmarks, ranging from various real world programs to
synthetic benchmarks that see how the allocator behaves under more
extreme circumstances.
In our benchmarks, _mimalloc_ always outperforms all other leading
allocators (_jemalloc_, _tcmalloc_, _Hoard_, etc) (Jan 2021),
and usually uses less memory (up to 25% more in the worst case).
A nice property is that it does *consistently* well over the wide
range of benchmarks.
See the [Performance](https://github.com/microsoft/mimalloc#Performance)
section in the _mimalloc_ repository for benchmark results,
or the the technical report for detailed benchmark results.
*/