Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH] use qemu_malloc and friends consistently

[Gerd Hoffmann]

On 05/29/09 15:07, Paul Brook wrote:
> The best way to find broken code is to have qemu_malloc(0) abort, and avoid
> ever trying to allocate a zero size block.

Forces all call sizes where size=0 is a perfectly legal case add extra 
code to prevent qemu from aborting, i.e. replace

  ptr = qemu_malloc(len);

with

  if (len) {
    ptr = qemu_malloc(len);
  } else {
    ptr = NULL; /* make sure we don't pass garbage to qemu_free() */
  }

> If you want maximize chances of catching accidental mistakes as early as
> possible then you should have malloc(0) abort, because it probably means
> someone forgot tho consider the empty case.

I don't share the assumption that malloc(0) is a bug in most cases.  And 
on the other hand the slightly different behavior might actually 
introduce bugs because people assume qemu_malloc() works like malloc().

cheers,
  Gerd