Memory Leak When Using Custom Linked List Implementation in C - Need guide with Freeing Nodes
I'm working on a custom linked list implementation in C, and I've run into a memory leak scenario... After doing some testing, I noticed that even when I free the nodes, the program still reports memory leaks using tools like Valgrind. Here's a simplified version of my code: ```c #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> typedef struct Node { int data; struct Node *next; } Node; Node* create_node(int data) { Node *new_node = (Node *)malloc(sizeof(Node)); if (!new_node) return NULL; new_node->data = data; new_node->next = NULL; return new_node; } void free_list(Node *head) { Node *current = head; Node *next_node; while (current != NULL) { next_node = current->next; free(current); current = next_node; } } int main() { Node *head = create_node(1); head->next = create_node(2); head->next->next = create_node(3); free_list(head); return 0; } ``` I've tested the `free_list` function in isolation, and it seems to work correctly. However, when I run the entire program, Valgrind outputs the following warning: ``` ==12345== LEAK SUMMARY: ==12345== definitely lost: 12 bytes in 1 blocks ==12345== indirectly lost: 8 bytes in 1 blocks ``` I suspect the question might be related to how I'm managing the linked list or the way I allocate nodes. I've tried running the code with different configurations and ensuring that the `free_list` function is called correctly before exiting the program. I even tried setting the pointers to `NULL` after freeing them, but that didn't resolve the scenario. Is there something I'm missing in my implementation, or is there a common mistake when handling dynamic memory with linked lists in C? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My development environment is macOS. What am I doing wrong? Cheers for any assistance!