C Programming: Visual Quickstart Guide

Returning Memory from a Function

Another common use of dynamic memory involves returning pointers to memory blocks from a function. This is especially important when you're working with external libraries written by someone else.

Without this technique, the only things you can return from a function to the calling code are simple scalar values, such as an integer, a floating-point number, or a character. You cannot return more than one value or more complex data structures, like arrays.

This is why you need dynamic memory if you want to return something other than a simple value: you can allocate a block of memory in the function using malloc(), fill the block with something useful, and return the pointer to the block to the main part of the ...