Q: I'm allocating a large array for some numeric work, using the line
double *array = malloc(300 * 300 * sizeof(double));malloc isn't returning null, but the program is acting strangely, as if it's overwriting memory, or malloc isn't allocating as much as I asked for, or something.
A: Notice that 300 x 300 is 90,000, which will not fit in a 16-bit int, even before you multiply it by sizeof(double). If you need to allocate this much memory, you'll have to be careful. If size_t (the type accepted by malloc) is a 32-bit type on your machine, but int is 16 bits, you might be able to get away with writing 300 * (300 * sizeof(double)) (see question 3.14). Otherwise, you'll have to break your data structure up into smaller chunks, or use a 32-bit machine or compiler, or use some nonstandard memory allocation functions. See also questions 7.15 and 19.23.
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