Re: [RFC] get_pathspec(): free() old buffer if rewriting

On Sun, 7 May 2006, Johannes Schindelin wrote:

I'm not at all convinced we want to do somethng like this.

get_pathspec() is a one-time event. It doesn't "leak" memory. To me, "leaking" is when you continually lose a bit of memory, and you eventually run out. I don't see that happening here.

It's like saying that calling an initialization routine "leaks" memory, because it doesn't free the memory that contains the function that is now no longer ever used. It's clearly leaving that memory unused, "dangling".

But the fact is, the OS will free the memory for us when we exit, and simplicity is often much more powerful than trying to be overly careful.

So there's a difference between "don't care" and "leak memory". It sounds like you may be using some automated tool that warns because it simply doesn't understand that difference.

			Linus