Memory Leak When Using `malloc` in a Custom Data Structure - Need guide Debugging
I need some guidance on I'm upgrading from an older version and Quick question that's been bugging me - I'm working with a memory leak in my C application when trying to manage a custom data structure for holding dynamically allocated strings....... The structure is intended to hold multiple strings, but I'm noticing that when I free the structure's memory, some of the strings remain allocated, causing a memory leak. Here’s a simplified version of my code: ```c #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> typedef struct { char **strings; int count; } StringArray; StringArray *createStringArray(int size) { StringArray *arr = malloc(sizeof(StringArray)); arr->strings = malloc(size * sizeof(char *)); arr->count = 0; return arr; } void addString(StringArray *arr, const char *str) { arr->strings[arr->count] = malloc(strlen(str) + 1); strcpy(arr->strings[arr->count], str); arr->count++; } void freeStringArray(StringArray *arr) { for (int i = 0; i < arr->count; i++) { free(arr->strings[i]); // Freeing individual strings } free(arr->strings); // Freeing the string array itself free(arr); // Freeing the structure } int main() { StringArray *myArray = createStringArray(5); addString(myArray, "Hello"); addString(myArray, "World"); freeStringArray(myArray); return 0; } ``` When I run my program and check for memory leaks using Valgrind, I see output indicating that there are still some blocks of memory allocated for the strings, even after I call `freeStringArray(myArray);`. I’ve verified that `addString` is being called correctly and that `free` is being applied to each individual string. I suspect that the scenario might be due to how I'm managing the memory allocation, but I can’t pinpoint what I’m missing. Here’s the Valgrind output snippet indicating the leak: ``` ==12345== 32 bytes in 2 blocks are still reachable in loss record 1 of 1 ==12345== at 0x4C2F5B3: malloc (vg_replace_malloc.c:309) ==12345== by 0x40053B: addString (example.c:12) ==12345== by 0x4005B6: main (example.c:20) ``` Can anyone help identify what I might be doing wrong? Is there a common pitfall with dynamic memory management in similar scenarios that I might have overlooked? Thanks in advance! For context: I'm using C on Ubuntu. For context: I'm using C on CentOS. What would be the recommended way to handle this? I'd be grateful for any help.