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  <title>Guaranteeing Alignment</title>
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  <img src="../../../../boost.png" width="276" height="86" alt="C++ Boost">

  <h1 align="center">Guaranteeing Alignment</h1>

  <h2>Terminology</h2>

  <p>Review the <a href="../concepts.html">concepts document</a> if you are 
  not already familiar with it. Remember that <em>block</em> is a contiguous 
  section of memory, which is <em>partitioned</em> or <em>segregated</em>
  into fixed-size <em>chunks</em>. These <em>chunks</em> are what are 
  allocated and deallocated by the user.</p>

  <h2>Overview</h2>

  <p>Each <span class="code">Pool</span> has a single free list that can 
  extend over a number of memory blocks. Thus, <span class="code">Pool</span>
  also has a linked list of allocated memory blocks. Each memory block, by 
  default, is allocated using <span class="code">new[]</span>, and all memory 
  blocks are freed on destruction. It is the use of <span class=
  "code">new[]</span> that allows us to guarantee alignment.</p>

  <h2>Proof of Concept: Guaranteeing Alignment</h2>

  <p>Each block of memory is allocated as a POD type (specifically, an array 
  of characters) through <span class="code">operator new[]</span>. Let
  <em>POD_size</em> be the number of characters allocated.</p>

  <h3>Predicate 1: Arrays may not have padding</h3>

  <p>This follows from the following quote:</p>

  <p>[5.3.3/2] (Expressions::Unary expressions::Sizeof) &quot;... When applied to 
  an array, the result is the total number of bytes in the array. This implies 
  that the size of an array of <em>n</em> elements is <em>n</em>
  times the size of an element.&quot;</p>

  <p>Therefore, arrays cannot contain padding, though the elements within the 
  arrays may contain padding.</p>

  <h3>Predicate 2: Any block of memory allocated as an array of characters 
  through <span class="code">operator new[]</span> (hereafter referred to as
  <em>the block</em>) is properly aligned for any object of that size or 
  smaller</h3>

  <p>This follows from:</p>

  <ul>
    <li>[3.7.3.1/2] (Basic concepts::Storage duration::Dynamic storage 
    duration::Allocation functions) &quot;... The pointer returned shall be 
    suitably aligned so that it can be converted to a pointer of any complete 
    object type and then used to access the object or array in the storage 
    allocated ...&quot;</li>

    <li>[5.3.4/10] (Expressions::Unary expressions::New) &quot;... For arrays of
    <span class="code">char</span> and <span class="code">unsigned char</span>, 
    the difference between the result of the
    <em>new-expression</em> and the address returned by the allocation 
    function shall be an integral multiple of the most stringent alignment 
    requirement (3.9) of any object type whose size is no greater than the 
    size of the array being created. [<em>Note:</em> Because allocation 
    functions are assumed to return pointers to storage that is appropriately 
    aligned for objects of any type, this constraint on array allocation 
    overhead permits the common idiom of allocating character arrays into 
    which objects of other types will later be placed. ]&quot;</li>
  </ul>

  <h3>Consider: imaginary object type <em>Element</em> of a size which is a 
  multiple of some actual object size; assume sizeof(Element) &gt; POD_size</h3>

  <p>Note that an object of that size <em>can</em> exist. One object of that 
  size is an array of the &quot;actual&quot; objects.</p>

  <p>Note that the block is properly aligned for an Element. This directly 
  follows from Predicate 2.</p>

  <h3>Corollary 1: The block is properly aligned for an array of Elements</h3>

  <p>This follows from Predicates 1 and 2, and the following quote:</p>

  <p>[3.9/9] (Basic concepts::Types) &quot;An <em>object type</em> is a (possibly 
  cv-qualified) type that is not a function type, not a reference type, and 
  not a void type.&quot; (Specifically, array types are object types.)</p>

  <h3>Corollary 2: For any pointer <em>p</em> and integer <em>i</em>, if p is 
  properly aligned for the type it points to, then p + i (when well-defined) 
  is properly aligned for that type; in other words, if an array is properly 
  aligned, then each element in that array is properly aligned</h3>

  <p>There are no quotes from the Standard to directly support this argument, 
  but it fits the common conception of the meaning of &quot;alignment&quot;.</p>

  <p>Note that the conditions for p + i being well-defined are outlined in 
  [5.7/5]. We do not quote that here, but only make note that it is 
  well-defined if p and p + i both point into or one past the same array.</p>

  <h3>Let: sizeof(Element) be the least common multiple of sizes of several 
  actual objects (T<sub>1</sub>, T<sub>2</sub>, T<sub>3</sub>, ...)</h3>

  <h3>Let: <em>block</em> be a pointer to the memory block, <em>pe</em> be 
  (Element *) block, and <em>p<sub>n</sub></em> be (T<sub>n</sub> *) block</h3>

  <h3>Corollary 3: For each integer <em>i</em>, such that pe + i is 
  well-defined, then for each <em>n</em>, there exists some integer
  <em>j<sub>n</sub></em> such that p<sub>n</sub> + j<sub>n</sub> is 
  well-defined and refers to the same memory address as pe + i</h3>

  <p>This follows naturally, since the memory block is an array of Elements, 
  and for each n, sizeof(Element) % sizeof(T<sub>n</sub>) == 0; thus, the 
  boundary of each element in the array of Elements is also a boundary of each 
  element in each array of T<sub>n</sub>.</p>

  <h3>Theorem: For each integer <em>i</em>, such that pe + i is well-defined, 
  that address (pe + i) is properly aligned for each type T<sub>n</sub></h3>

  <p>Since pe + i is well-defined, then by Corollary 3, p<sub>n</sub> + j<sub>n</sub> 
  is well-defined. It is properly aligned from Predicate 2 and Corollaries 1 
  and 2.</p>

  <h2>Use of the Theorem</h2>

  <p>The proof above covers alignment requirements for cutting chunks out of a 
  block. The implementation uses actual object sizes of:</p>

  <ul>
    <li>The requested object size (requested_size); this is the size of chunks 
    requested by the user</li>

    <li>void * (pointer to void); this is because we interleave our free list 
    through the chunks</li>

    <li>size_type; this is because we store the size of the next block within 
    each memory block</li>
  </ul>

  <p>Each block also contains a pointer to the next block; but that is stored 
  as a pointer to void and cast when necessary, to simplify alignment 
  requirements to the three types above.</p>

  <p>Therefore, <span class="code">alloc_size</span> is defined to be the lcm 
  of the sizes of the three types above.</p>

  <h2>A Look at the Memory Block</h2>

  <p>Each memory block consists of three main sections. The first section is 
  the part that chunks are cut out of, and contains the interleaved free list. 
  The second section is the pointer to the next block, and the third section 
  is the size of the next block.</p>

  <p>Each of these sections may contain padding as necessary to guarantee 
  alignment for each of the next sections. The size of the first section is 
  number_of_chunks * lcm(requested_size, sizeof(void *), sizeof(size_type)); 
  the size of the second section is lcm(sizeof(void *), sizeof(size_type); and 
  the size of the third section is sizeof(size_type).</p>

  <p>Here's an example memory block, where requested_size == sizeof(void *) == 
  sizeof(size_type) == 4:</p>

  <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="3" style="clear: both;"
  align="center" summary="">
    <caption>
      <em>Memory block containing 4 chunks, showing overlying array 
      structures; FLP = Interleaved Free List Pointer</em>
    </caption>

    <tr>
      <th>Sections</th>

      <th>size_type alignment</th>

      <th>void * alignment</th>

      <th>requested_size alignment</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="4">
      Chunks section (16 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 1 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Chunk 1 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 
      2 (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Chunk 2 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 3 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Chunk 3 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 
      4 (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Chunk 4 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Pointer to 
      next Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Pointer to next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>
  </table>

  <p>To show a visual example of possible padding, here's an example memory 
  block where requested_size == 8 and sizeof(void *) == sizeof(size_type) == 
  4:</p>

  <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="3" style="clear: both;"
  align="center" summary="">
    <caption>
      <em>Memory block containing 4 chunks, showing overlying array 
      structures; FLP = Interleaved Free List Pointer</em>
    </caption>

    <tr>
      <th>Sections</th>

      <th>size_type alignment</th>

      <th>void * alignment</th>

      <th>requested_size alignment</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="8">
      Chunks section (32 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 1 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="2">
      Chunk 1 (8 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 2 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="2">
      Chunk 2 (8 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 3 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="2">
      Chunk 3 (8 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP for Chunk 4 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="2">
      Chunk 4 (8 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Pointer to 
      next Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Pointer to next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>
  </table>

  <p>Finally, here is a convoluted example where the requested_size is 7, 
  sizeof(void *) == 3, and sizeof(size_type) == 5, showing how the least 
  common multiple guarantees alignment requirements even in the oddest of 
  circumstances:</p>

  <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="3" style="clear: both;"
  align="center" summary="">
    <caption>
      <em>Memory block containing 2 chunks, showing overlying array structures</em>
    </caption>

    <tr>
      <th>Sections</th>

      <th>size_type alignment</th>

      <th>void * alignment</th>

      <th>requested_size alignment</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process <!-- First Section --></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="42">
      Chunks section (210 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      Interleaved free list pointer for Chunk 1 (15 bytes; 3 used)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="21">
      Chunk 1 (105 bytes; 7 used)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      (15 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">(15 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      (15 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">(15 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      (15 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">(15 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      Interleaved free list pointer for Chunk 2 (15 bytes; 3 used)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="21">
      Chunk 2 (105 bytes; 7 used)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">(15 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      (15 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">(15 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      (15 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">(15 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      (15 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes) 
      <!-- Second Section --></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      Pointer to next Block (15 bytes; 3 used)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="3">
      Pointer to next Block (15 bytes; 3 used)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(5 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(5 bytes) 
      <!-- Third Section --></td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (5 bytes; 5 used)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (5 bytes; 5 used)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>
  </table>

  <h2>How Contiguous Chunks are Handled</h2>

  <p>The theorem above guarantees all alignment requirements for allocating 
  chunks and also implementation details such as the interleaved free list. 
  However, it does so by adding padding when necessary; therefore, we have to 
  treat allocations of contiguous chunks in a different way.</p>

  <p>Using array arguments similar to the above, we can translate any request 
  for contiguous memory for <em>n</em> objects of requested_size into a 
  request for <em>m</em> contiguous chunks. <em>m</em> is simply ceil(n * 
  requested_size / alloc_size), where alloc_size is the actual size of the 
  chunks. To illustrate:</p>

  <p>Here's an example memory block, where requested_size == 1 and sizeof(void 
  *) == sizeof(size_type) == 4:</p>

  <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="3" style="clear: both;"
  align="center" summary="">
    <caption>
      <em>Memory block containing 4 chunks; requested_size is 1</em>
    </caption>

    <tr>
      <th>Sections</th>

      <th>size_type alignment</th>

      <th>void * alignment</th>

      <th>requested_size alignment</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="4">
      Chunks section (16 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP to Chunk 2 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Chunk 1 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">FLP to Chunk 3 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Chunk 2 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP to Chunk 4 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Chunk 3 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">FLP to 
      end-of-list (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Chunk 4 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Pointer to 
      next Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Ptr to 
      end-of-list (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">0 (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>
  </table>
<br>
  <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="3" style="clear: both;"
  align="center" summary="">
    <caption>
      <em>After user requests 7 contiguous elements of requested_size</em>
    </caption>

    <tr>
      <th>Sections</th>

      <th>size_type alignment</th>

      <th>void * alignment</th>

      <th>requested_size alignment</th>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;" rowspan="4">
      Chunks section (16 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">4 bytes in use 
      by program</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">3 bytes in use 
      by program (1 byte unused)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">FLP to Chunk 4 
      (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Chunk 3 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">FLP to 
      end-of-list (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Chunk 4 (4 
      bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">Pointer to 
      next Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">(4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Ptr to 
      end-of-list (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: gray; text-align: center;">Size of next 
      Block (4 bytes)</td>

      <td style="background-color: silver; text-align: center;">0 (4 bytes)</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td style="background-color: red; text-align: center;" colspan="4">
      Memory not belonging to process</td>
    </tr>
  </table>

  <p>Then, when the user deallocates the contiguous memory, we can split it up 
  into chunks again.</p>

  <p>Note that the implementation provided for allocating contiguous chunks 
  uses a linear instead of quadratic algorithm. This means that it
  <strong>may not find</strong> contiguous free chunks if the free list is not 
  ordered. Thus, it is recommended to always use an ordered free list when 
  dealing with contiguous allocation of chunks. (In the example above, if 
  Chunk 1 pointed to Chunk 3 pointed to Chunk 2 pointed to Chunk 4, instead of 
  being in order, the contiguous allocation algorithm would have failed to 
  find any of the contiguous chunks).</p>
  <hr>

  <p><a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer"><img border="0" src=
  "../../../../doc/images/valid-html401.png" alt="Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional"
  height="31" width="88"></a></p>

  <p>Revised 
  <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->05 December, 2006<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="38516" --></p>

  <p><i>Copyright &copy; 2000, 2001 Stephen Cleary (scleary AT jerviswebb DOT com)</i></p>

  <p><i>Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See 
  accompanying file <a href="../../../../LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>
  or copy at <a href=
  "http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)</i></p>
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