heap-allocator-c

A custom dynamic memory allocator written in C.
This project implements a heap allocator with best-fit placement, block splitting, and immediate coalescing, and provides an automated test workflow using Makefiles.

The allocator exposes a minimal public interface and is designed to be built as a shared library and validated through an extensive test suite.

Project Structure

p3Heap.c
Core allocator implementation (heap initialization, allocation, free, coalescing)

p3Heap.h
Public interface for the allocator

Makefile
Builds the allocator as a shared object

tests/
Test programs and test Makefile for validating allocator behavior

.gitignore
Ignores build artifacts and editor files

README.md
Project documentation

Allocator Features

• Best-fit allocation strategy
• Block size alignment to 8 bytes
• Block splitting when excess space is available
• Immediate coalescing with adjacent free blocks
• Footer-based free block tracking
• Shared library build for external testing

Build Instructions

From the project root directory, build the allocator shared library:

make p3Heap

This produces:

p3Heap.o
libheap.so

Running Tests

From the project root, build and run the allocator tests:

make test

You can also run individual groups from tests/:

cd tests
make partA
make partC
make partD

Memory Checking

To check for memory errors using valgrind:

make memcheck

You may also run valgrind on individual test binaries.

Cleaning Build Artifacts

Remove all generated binaries and object files:

make clean

Notes

• This repository contains only implementation code and test drivers.
• Generated binaries and shared objects are excluded via .gitignore.
• The allocator is designed to be tested through the provided test harness and Makefiles.
• The README is written to be portable and stable across GitHub, VS Code, and Markdown editors.