#CMemoryUsage

Header files to help you track memory usage in C and C++.

Requirement

Tested under macOS and Linux.

Usage in C

In C, add the header early in your program. Use malloc, free, and calloc as you would normally do. At all times, the malloced_memory_usage (global variable) keeps track of how much memory was allocated.

#include "cmemcounter.h"
#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {
  char * x = (char *) malloc(10);
  malloced_memory_usage == 10; // should be true
}

Usage (C++)

In C++, simply create the STL container with the MemoryCountingAllocator memory allocator. The global variable memory_usage will track your memory usage.

#include "memtrackingallocator.h"

typedef std::vector<int,MemoryCountingAllocator<int> >  vector;

int main() {
  vector vec(10);
  memory_usage >= 10 * sizeof(int); // should be true
}

Limitations

These headers should not be used in production code.

We do not even attempt to measure the overhead due to memory allocations, so that the numbers are actually underestimates. We do not necessarily intercept all memory allocations.