Knowledge (XXG)

Variable-length array

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Although C11 does not explicitly name a size-limit for VLAs, some believe it should have the same maximum size as all other objects, i.e. SIZE_MAX bytes. However, this should be understood in the wider context of environment and platform limits, such as the typical stack-guard page size of
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when utilizing the Fortran 90 feature of checking procedure interfaces at compile time; on the other hand, if the functions use pre-Fortran 90 call interface, the (external) functions must first be declared, and the array length must be explicitly passed as an argument (as in C):
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macro is defined if VLA is not supported. The C23 standard makes VLA types mandatory again. Only creation of VLA objects with automatic storage duration is optional. GCC had VLA as an extension before C99, one that also extends into its C++ dialect.
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function allocates a variable-length array of a specified size, fills it with floating-point values, and then passes it to another function for processing. Because the array is declared as an automatic variable, its lifetime ends when
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fragment declares a variable-length array of integers. Before C# version 7.2, a pointer to the array is required, requiring an "unsafe" context. The "unsafe" keyword requires an assembly containing this code to be marked as unsafe.
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In this language, it is called a dynamic array. The declaration of such a variable is similar to the declaration of a static array, but without specifying its size. The size of the array is given at the time of its use.
155:, etc.) only support growable arrays. Even in languages that support variable-length arrays, it's often recommended to avoid using (stack-based) variable-length arrays, and instead use ( 139:) are generally more useful than VLAs because dynamic arrays can do everything VLAs can do, and also support growing the array at run-time. For this reason, many programming languages ( 341:
has expressed his displeasure in the past over VLA usage for arrays with predetermined small sizes because it generates lower quality assembly code. With the Linux 4.20 kernel, the
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to a conditional feature, which implementations are not required to support; on some platforms, VLAs could be implemented formerly with
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VLA, unlike that of other languages mentioned here, is safe because COBOL requires specifying maximum array size. In this example,
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C# version 7.2 and later allow the array to be allocated without the "unsafe" keyword, through the use of the Span feature.
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In C99, the length parameter must come before the variable-length array parameter in function calls. In C11, a
152: 117: 52: 1636: 1564: 174: 542:. Ada arrays carry their bounds with them, so there is no need to pass the length to the Process function. 156: 44: 1677: 1637:"The Linux Kernel Is Now VLA-Free: A Win For Security, Less Overhead & Better For Clang - Phoronix" 40: 20: 178: 129: 1582: 189: 125: 67: 1696: 1540: 1619:"LKML: Linus Torvalds: Re: VLA removal (was Re: [RFC 2/2] lustre: use VLA_SAFE)" 1614: 352:
It is possible to have VLA object with dynamic storage by using a pointer to an array.
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Removing the contents of a dynamic array is done by assigning it a size of zero.
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4 KiB, which is many orders of magnitude smaller than SIZE_MAX.
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having a length (number of members) specified by the value of
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cannot have more than 20 items, regardless of the value of
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ISO 9899:2011 Programming Languages – C 6.7.6.2 4.
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The main purpose of VLAs is to simplify programming of
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and internally accessed using a pointer to this block.
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fragment declares a variable-length array of records
1653:§6.5.3.4 and §7.20.3 of the C11 standard (n1570.pdf) 331: 73:Programming languages that support VLAs include 55:, the VLA is said to have a variably modified 1678:"Free Pascal Reference guide: Dynamic arrays" 1583:"Code Gen Options - The GNU Fortran Compiler" 8: 177:(GCC) for C allocates memory for VLAs with 1604:§ 6.10.9.3 of the C23 standard (n3054.pdf) 1595:§ 6.10.8.3 of the C11 standard (n1570.pdf) 1373:dynamic arrays are allocated on the heap. 1511: 1517: 1515: 538:The following is the same example in 7: 1664:"stackalloc operator (C# reference)" 89:(although subsequently relegated in 188:VLAs can also be allocated on the 14: 1702:Programming language comparisons 1569:The Linux Documentation Project 43:whose length is determined at 1: 135:Growable arrays (also called 59:that depends on a value (see 1239:DeclareStackBasedArrayUnsafe 1385:CreateDynamicArrayOfNumbers 1718: 1303:DeclareStackBasedArraySafe 179:automatic storage duration 100:or similar functions) and 1563:Raymond, Eric S. (2000). 345:is effectively VLA-free. 81:(for non-flexible rows), 1523:"Variable Length Arrays" 1473: 1379: 1297: 1230: 1096: 892: 725: 544: 354: 217: 175:GNU Compiler Collection 124:(the language used in 16:Type of data structure 1676:Michaël Van Canneyt. 25:variable-length array 68:numerical algorithms 41:array data structure 21:computer programming 213:read_and_process() 159:) dynamic arrays. 132:, that uses FPC). 51:. In the language 1709: 1681: 1674: 1668: 1667: 1660: 1654: 1651: 1645: 1644: 1641:www.phoronix.com 1633: 1627: 1626: 1617:(7 March 2018). 1611: 1605: 1602: 1596: 1593: 1587: 1586: 1579: 1573: 1572: 1560: 1554: 1551: 1545: 1544: 1537: 1531: 1530: 1525:. 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719:The equivalent 717: 712: 711: 708: 705: 702: 699: 696: 693: 690: 687: 684: 681: 678: 675: 672: 669: 666: 663: 660: 657: 654: 651: 648: 645: 642: 639: 636: 633: 630: 627: 624: 621: 618: 615: 612: 609: 606: 603: 600: 597: 594: 591: 588: 585: 582: 579: 576: 573: 570: 567: 564: 561: 558: 555: 552: 549: 546: 536: 531: 530: 527: 524: 521: 518: 515: 512: 509: 506: 503: 500: 497: 494: 491: 488: 485: 482: 479: 476: 473: 470: 467: 464: 461: 458: 455: 452: 449: 446: 443: 440: 437: 434: 431: 428: 425: 422: 419: 416: 413: 410: 407: 404: 401: 398: 395: 392: 389: 386: 383: 380: 377: 374: 371: 368: 365: 362: 359: 356: 332:__STDC_NO_VLA__ 328: 327: 324: 321: 318: 315: 312: 309: 306: 303: 300: 297: 294: 291: 288: 285: 282: 279: 276: 273: 270: 267: 264: 261: 258: 255: 252: 249: 246: 243: 240: 237: 234: 231: 228: 225: 222: 219: 212: 204: 199: 170: 165: 106:stack-allocated 94: 31:), also called 17: 12: 11: 5: 1715: 1713: 1705: 1704: 1699: 1689: 1688: 1683: 1682: 1669: 1655: 1646: 1628: 1606: 1597: 1588: 1574: 1555: 1546: 1532: 1529:on 2018-01-26. 1510: 1509: 1507: 1504: 1474: 1380: 1367: 1364: 1298: 1231: 1223:The following 1220: 1217: 1195:PACKED-DECIMAL 1097: 1082:The following 1079: 1076: 893: 726: 716: 713: 545: 535: 532: 355: 339:Linus Torvalds 218: 206:The following 203: 200: 198: 197:Implementation 195: 194: 193: 186: 169: 166: 164: 161: 137:dynamic arrays 61:Dependent type 33:variable-sized 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1714: 1703: 1700: 1698: 1695: 1694: 1692: 1679: 1673: 1670: 1665: 1659: 1656: 1650: 1647: 1642: 1638: 1632: 1629: 1624: 1620: 1616: 1610: 1607: 1601: 1598: 1592: 1589: 1584: 1578: 1575: 1570: 1566: 1559: 1556: 1550: 1547: 1542: 1536: 1533: 1528: 1524: 1518: 1516: 1512: 1505: 1472: 1378: 1374: 1372: 1371:Object Pascal 1366:Object Pascal 1365: 1296: 1229: 1226: 1218: 1216: 1206: 1095: 1085: 1077: 1069:end function 891: 881:end function 724: 722: 714: 543: 541: 533: 353: 350: 346: 344: 340: 336: 216: 209: 201: 196: 191: 187: 184: 180: 176: 172: 171: 167: 162: 160: 158: 154: 150: 146: 142: 138: 133: 131: 127: 123: 122:Object Pascal 119: 115: 111: 107: 103: 97: 92: 88: 84: 80: 76: 71: 69: 64: 62: 58: 54: 50: 46: 42: 38: 37:runtime-sized 34: 30: 26: 22: 1672: 1666:. Microsoft. 1658: 1649: 1640: 1631: 1623:Linux kernel 1622: 1609: 1600: 1591: 1577: 1568: 1558: 1549: 1535: 1527:the original 1470: 1375: 1369: 1294: 1222: 1202: 1192:PIC S9(7)V99 1081: 888: 723:function is 718: 537: 351: 347: 343:Linux kernel 337: 329: 205: 134: 72: 65: 49:compile time 36: 32: 28: 24: 18: 1485:NumberArray 1451:NumberArray 1436:NumberArray 1409:NumberArray 1209:DEPT-PERSON 1189:PERSON-WAGE 1177:PERSON-NAME 1144:DEPT-PERSON 1120:DEPT-PEOPLE 1088:DEPT-PERSON 1691:Categories 1506:References 1348:stackArray 1339:stackalloc 1333:stackArray 1269:stackalloc 1213:PEOPLE-CNT 1168:PEOPLE-CNT 1129:PEOPLE-CNT 1092:PEOPLE-CNT 721:Fortran 90 715:Fortran 90 168:Allocation 157:heap-based 141:JavaScript 1479:SetLength 1430:SetLength 1180:PIC X(20) 1162:DEPENDING 1132:PIC S9(4) 961:dimension 895:function 794:dimension 728:function 616:Vals_Type 568:<>) 550:Vals_Type 215:returns. 108:arrays), 57:data type 1421:LongWord 1102:DIVISION 1036:read_val 985:read_val 854:read_val 673:Read_Val 580:function 562:Positive 471:read_val 298:read_val 79:ALGOL 68 39:, is an 1397:Integer 1382:program 1111:SECTION 1051:process 994:integer 991:process 922:integer 869:process 812:integer 755:integer 691:Process 595:Integer 486:process 307:process 181:on the 130:Lazarus 114:Fortran 45:runtime 1697:Arrays 1278:pArray 1263:pArray 1233:unsafe 1147:OCCURS 1135:BINARY 1042:end do 928:intent 910:result 860:end do 761:intent 743:result 688:return 601:return 519:return 402:sizeof 396:malloc 304:return 163:Memory 149:Python 126:Delphi 120:, and 96:alloca 1427:begin 1415:array 1205:COBOL 1159:TIMES 1084:COBOL 1078:Cobol 634:begin 604:Float 574:Float 565:range 556:array 477:float 408:float 378:float 357:float 241:float 220:float 183:stack 110:COBOL 1457:2020 1442:Size 1391:Size 1330:> 1324:< 1321:Span 1312:size 1300:void 1248:size 1236:void 1203:The 1186:10 1174:10 1141:05 1126:05 1117:01 1099:DATA 1057:vals 1021:vals 979:real 976:vals 955:real 946:real 875:vals 839:vals 809:vals 788:real 779:real 697:Vals 682:loop 658:Vals 655:loop 610:Vals 547:type 513:vals 507:free 501:vals 462:vals 438:< 387:vals 319:vals 292:vals 274:< 244:vals 190:heap 173:The 145:Java 128:and 116:90, 23:, a 1500:... 1476:... 1463:end 1406:var 1354:123 1342:int 1327:int 1309:int 1284:123 1272:int 1257:int 1245:int 1156:20 1003:do 821:do 703:end 679:end 637:for 540:Ada 534:Ada 522:ret 480:ret 474:(); 420:int 414:for 411:)); 366:int 301:(); 256:int 250:for 229:int 208:C99 202:C99 91:C11 87:C99 83:APL 75:Ada 63:). 35:or 29:VLA 19:In 1693:: 1639:. 1621:. 1567:. 1514:^ 1454::= 1418:of 1225:C# 1219:C# 1215:. 1165:ON 1153:TO 1150:0 1094:: 1039:() 997::: 982::: 973::: 949::: 940::: 934:in 857:() 815::: 806::: 782::: 773::: 767:in 700:); 670::= 649:.. 643:in 631:); 625:.. 607:is 592:: 571:of 553:is 516:); 504:); 447:++ 322:); 283:++ 151:, 147:, 143:, 112:, 102:C# 98:() 85:, 77:, 70:. 1680:. 1643:. 1585:. 1571:. 1543:. 1497:; 1494:) 1491:0 1488:, 1482:( 1466:. 1460:; 1448:; 1445:) 1439:, 1433:( 1424:; 1412:: 1403:; 1400:) 1394:: 1388:( 1360:} 1357:; 1351:= 1345:; 1336:= 1318:{ 1315:) 1306:( 1290:} 1287:; 1281:= 1275:; 1266:= 1260:* 1254:{ 1251:) 1242:( 1198:. 1183:. 1171:. 1138:. 1123:. 1114:. 1105:. 1066:) 1063:n 1060:, 1054:( 1048:= 1045:o 1033:= 1030:) 1027:i 1024:( 1018:n 1015:, 1012:1 1009:= 1006:i 1000:i 988:, 970:) 967:n 964:( 958:, 952:o 943:n 937:) 931:( 925:, 919:) 916:o 913:( 907:) 904:n 901:( 878:) 872:( 866:= 863:o 851:= 848:) 845:i 842:( 836:n 833:, 830:1 827:= 824:i 818:i 803:) 800:n 797:( 791:, 785:o 776:n 770:) 764:( 758:, 752:) 749:o 746:( 740:) 737:n 734:( 709:; 694:( 685:; 676:; 667:) 664:I 661:( 652:N 646:1 640:I 628:N 622:1 619:( 613:: 598:) 589:N 586:( 577:; 559:( 528:} 525:; 510:( 498:* 495:, 492:n 489:( 483:= 468:= 465:) 459:* 456:( 453:) 450:i 444:; 441:n 435:i 432:; 429:0 426:= 423:i 417:( 405:( 399:( 393:= 390:) 384:* 381:( 375:{ 372:) 369:n 363:( 325:} 316:, 313:n 310:( 295:= 289:) 286:i 280:; 277:n 271:i 268:; 265:0 262:= 259:i 253:( 247:; 238:{ 235:) 232:n 226:( 153:R 118:J 53:C 27:(

Index

computer programming
array data structure
runtime
compile time
C
data type
Dependent type
numerical algorithms
Ada
ALGOL 68
APL
C99
C11
alloca
C#
stack-allocated
COBOL
Fortran
J
Object Pascal
Delphi
Lazarus
dynamic arrays
JavaScript
Java
Python
R
heap-based
GNU Compiler Collection
automatic storage duration

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